Secrets of the Empire
by Mystical Myst
Summary: A Gawain/OFC story. When the romans come for the sarmatian knights in Sarmatia, a young girl by the name Merenwen, takes her brothers place in order to spare him. AU, rated M to be safe, R & R please.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Chapter 1: revised.**

The sensation of the wind whiping through my hair, was one which I could never get enough, I let the freedom rush through me, as I bent closer to Flecha's neck, Flecha was a pinto stallion, he had received that name because when he was young and even today he would be one of the first to charge into a battle. I quickly took a glance at the knights who were riding next to me. I could tell that they too were enjoying the ride, it was truly a rare moment to be able to relish, most of the time were either being chased and bothered by the Romans back at the camp or we were trying to stay alive during a fight. But a moment like this where we could just relax and be free was one we all treasured. I looked to my right and saw Galahad, with a look of freedom on his face. The knowledge that the bishop of Rome was coming today to give us our discharge papers, only made the thrill of freedom all the more glorious. I looked once again up ahead and I could see our commander Artorious, also known as Arthur bringing his great stallion Feonaro (Which means Spirit of Fire) to a stop, before a hill. He was soon followed by everyone else; I came up beside Galahad, just in time to hear Gawain say, "Ah, as promised the bishops carriage".

Ever since I was a kid, when had taken the place of my brother at the outpost, Gawain had always been the knight who I got along with most, he understood me, and although all of the other knights treated me with respect as one of their own, none of them treated me quite as Gawain did.

I looked across to the group, and saw from the expression on Bors' face that he was confused, Bors was always the kind for brute strength instead of intelligence, a trait which made him sometimes be misunderstood. People would often fear him as they did Dagonet, but the truth was that both men were kind and warmhearted under the mask of brutality. I was just about to clear his mind when someone else beat me to it.

"Freedom Bors" I heard a soft male voice say, a voice which I knew all to well, I looked to my right and once again saw Galahad. I looked back down to the group of Romans. To be honest I did not like them from the moment I saw them in Sarmatia when I disguised my self as a boy to take my brothers place. I had the advantage that I was so young at the time that you could not tell the difference. I was sure at the time they would find out that I was a girl before we arrived at our post in Britain, but I also knew that once we were in Britain that I would be safe. Lucky for me my disguise worked, and sure when the other knights first found out I was a girl they were shocked and slightly repelled; but they soon got over it and allowed me back into the circle.

I kept my eyes on the Romans when all of a sudden I felt uneasy about something, I knew that something was not right "I don't like this, it is too quiet"

"There is nothing to worry about little one it is just a beautiful day. Everything is nice and calm" Bors had barely got the last word out when one of the Roman officers was thrown off of his horse by an arrow, and the feeling I had proved right, out of the forest came a army of Woads.

"Woads!" I heard Tristan shout which served merely to confirm everyone's suspicions-, and fears. If the bishop were to die; we could never be free.

This idea made me tense up I felt Flecha dance under me, Arthur must have noticed it for he looked at me "Merenwen, stay here and wait for our return"

"Arthur, don't go through this again! You know that I am one of you and I will fight alongside the others" having said this I gave a sharp kick to Flecha and he bolted, all too eager. I could have sworn that out of the corner of my eye I saw Arthur smile as he gave Feonaro free reigns and let him gallop.

We charged down the hill and over the plains as we watched Woad after Woad attempted to get close to the bishop's carriage and Roman soldier after Roman soldier was killed, I looked at the scene partly in horror, for I knew that the bishop must not die - but I also knew that I had to keep my mind on the battle, if I wanted to survive. I spared Gawain a glance and saw him driving his horse forward by using the help of his lean body - and for a moment I began to have other fantasies about such movements but in other situations… I soon caught myself, gulped and quickly looked away. That was another thing: keep the dirty thoughts locked behind bars, or at least for now. I heard rather then saw Arthur pull out Excalibur and give a battle cry, which was our cue to go into battle formation. I quickly took my place next to Gawain, and pulled out my bow as well an arrow from my quiver, thinking this is it. I saw Arthur and Dagonet cut down the first three Woads with swords, and then Gawain stabbing a Woad who thought that it would be safe to climb up the river bank. Boy was he wrong! The Woad right behind Gawain got ready to strike at his back; I aimed my arrow at his own back and shot him just above the tail bone. There was not much time to pay attention to what all of the other knights were doing. I saw a Woad climb up the Church minister's carriage, with an axe in his hand and ready to kill the holy man I took another arrow from my quiver and shot the Woad in the back. Once the he was dead curiosity got the better of me and I brought Flecha up to the carriage; I knew that Flecha had probably stood on the Woad's hands because I heard the sickening sound of bones cracking. I pulled back the curtains to get a look at the bishop, but before I could really look I felt a Woad grab me around my neck and drag me off Flecha's back I heard Flecha give a loud cry in protest and he began to prance around in place. I felt the bow that I was holding be thrown from my hand; I tried to grab either an arrow or a knife - anything to kill this bastard who held me down - but he held me in a head lock which prevented me from doing anything. I looked up in horror and saw that the Woad had a dagger in his hand, ready to stab me in the heart. All of a sudden, out of nowhere I felt the weight leave my arms and head. I looked up to see what was going on and saw that it was Gawain who had grabbed the man off me, and who now was wrestling with him, I saw another Woad come close, and I knew that Gawain had not seen him: I grabbed one of my daggers and threw it at the Woad, piercing his heart. Gawain looked at the Woad, and then to me, nodding his head in thanks. He then went back to fighting the Woad which had almost killed me, grabbing the Woad's leg and throwing him down to the ground, finally cutting him down with his axe. I have seen Gawain be aggressive before but never quiet like this - it was almost as if he was scared, but for what?

Soon the battle was over, I looked around praying that no one had been killed. To my joy I found that everyone was fine, maybe a few bruises but basically fine. I felt two strong hands grab my shoulders and turn me around: and I came face to face with Gawain who pulled me into a fierce hug. For a while I was stunned, though I cannot deny that I did enjoy the hug. After a short moment I returned the hug with the same force as it was given.

We walked together to where Bors was standing looking into the bishop's carriage. We looked in over his head and saw that the bishop was sitting there with an arrow through his head, I looked to Gawain and saw that he had an expression of frustration which I was feeling as well. He threw his axe into the ground and kneeled down I could tell that he was angry, I quietly put my hand on his shoulder in attempt to comfort him, we. We both got up and walked back to our horses. Flecha was grazing quietly: when he saw me he picked up his head and nudged me, as if saying, 'Glad that you are all right'

"Hey boy, I missed you too," I told him as I gently patted his neck. I moved to the side, grabbed his mane and got back on him, just in time to hear Bishop Germanus speak to Arthur in favor. He then looked over to us "And these are the great Sarmatian knights we have heard so much of in Rome." He scanned over each of us, until his eyes fell on me "A WOMAN!!! What business does a woman have here?" he cried with a look of disgust

"The same as every other knight here," I said, certainly not liking the way in which this bishop was talking to me. (By the way in which Flecha was stamping I could tell he did not either.)

"She is one of the Sarmatian Knights, and she is as brave and as strong as all of the others," Arthur told the bishop. "I thought the Woads control the North of Hadrian's wall," the bishop said, not paying any more attention to my presence among the knights.

"They do, but they occasionally venture south. Rome's anticipated withdrawal has only increased their daring," Arthur told him as they began to walk towards the carriage.

"Woads?" The Bishops secretary asked.

"British rebels who hate Rome," Gawain said, keeping his cool. I must admit that I envied him for being able to stay so calm.

"Men who want their country back!" Of course Galahad unlike his brother had still to do a lot of training in that area. At this the bishop picked up, at this, of course probably only to find out who he could brain wash, "Who leads them?" "His name is Merlin. A dark magician, _some_ say," Lancelot retorted. He was one who never gave up a chance to make fun of Romans.

"Tristan, Merenwen, ride ahead and make sure the road is clear," Arthur told us, I turned Flecha around and gave him a nudge: I knew that we were both all too eager to get away from the bishop. It did not take long for Tristan to come up next to me, but soon after we split ways, each of us scouting the other direction.

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	2. AN

**A/N: Thank you Tiger-180 for the review.**

**If anyone else has read the first chapter, then I hope that you enjoyed it. I promise that there will be more. However at the moment I am stuck. Since I want to stay as close to the movie as possible, I had the movie last week but I had to give it back (sniff) so I have to wait till I get hold of the movie again, which hopefully will be within two weeks. But I promise once I have it I will continue.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2 rewritten**

**A/N: Thank you for your reviews. I am glad that you like the idea. I myself got fed up, with that there were no love stories about Gawain so to solve the problem I decided to write it myself.**

**I hope that you continue to enjoy the story. **

I steered Flecha away from Tristan to go and scout the area which was assigned to me, but just as I was about to give Flecha free reign something in my head told me to rein him in. I asked Flecha to stand still – well, as still as he could. He heeded my request but not without some protesting.

"Tristan! Good luck, rus!" I called after him, looking over my shoulder.

He too stopped Indian and looked at me. He being the quiet one out of all the knights, the only reply which I got was a nod, and a fist in the air, but that was a good enough answer.

With that I gave a firm kick to Flechas sides, at the same time leaning over his neck to give him his back. He gave a happy kick and was off, all too happy to get the chance to stretch his legs. All of the time I kept my eyes open in case there were any Woads hidden which could cause a threat to the bishop. Once I was satisfied that there was no danger I reigned Flecha back in and let him walk in order to cool down.

I leaned down close to his neck and whispered soothingly in his ear, "Well boy, I think that we have scouted long enough. What do you say to making our way back to the others?" Immediately I got a reply from him and that was a twitch of the ear, along with a nicker and a bob of the head.

Finally I spotted the others: they were coming to the wall. I gently nudged Flecha, who immediately understood and set into a quiet canter up to them. When I passed the bishop's carriage I felt as if there was someone watching me, and I most definitely did not like but I decided not to pay too much attention to it. I brought Flecha close to the others in time to hear Gawain telling about his plans for home.

"I'm going to find myself a beautiful Sarmatian woman to wed," he said, looking all dreamy, and before I could even stop my thoughts I began to dream about how it would be if that woman would be me. Just then reality decided to show its ugly head. Of course it would never be me, I was not beautiful and he did say beautiful.

"Beautiful Sarmatian woman? Why do you think we left in the first place?" Bors said, giving a sound of a grumpy cow.

"Hey!!!!" I called from behind.

Apparently he had only just realized that I had arrived, and quickly went to cover up his mistake: "Not you, Mer! Of course you're not in that category," he said, looking very innocent.

I already knew that he did not really mean anything by it, for we had that habit of having a laugh about what ever we could whenever we could.

"What about you, Lancelot? What are your plans for home?" he asked, as Lancelot brought Tempest up next to Bor's horse.

"Well, if this woman of Gawain is as beautiful as he claims, I guess I will be spending a lot of time at Gawain's house. His wife would welcome the company," he said already knowing what the response was going to be.

"I see. And what would I be doing?" Gawain said in that deep beautiful voice which I loved so much.

"Wondering at your good fortune when all of your children look like me," he responded, as he drove Tempest forward to catch up with Arthur. "Is that before or after I hit you with my axe?" Gawain called back.

As Lancelot moved forward, I urged Flecha to take his place.

"And what about you Mer?" Bors' asked looking at me, along with all of the other eyes of the group.

"Well, maybe I should challenge Gawain with the idea about wedding a beautiful Sarmatian woman," I said looking Gawain straight in the eyes.

He had an expression for a moment that I could not read before he masked it up with humor, "Well how about I take you up on that offer?" he said.

I began to move Flecha further when I looked over my shoulder "You bet."

**A/N: well that was chapter 2, I hope that you enjoyed it, and please remember to review and tell me what you think.**

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	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3 rewritten**

**A/N: Here is Chapter 3, enjoy. **

**Thank you for your reviews**

We rode into the courtyard, were we all gathered in a circle around the bishop's carriage, I brought Flecha to a halt next to Tempest.

"Welcome back, Arthur," Jols said in greeting.

"Jols"

He looked over to Lancelot and nodded in greeting. "Lancelot."

Lancelot gave a quick nod in response. Arthur got off Feonaro just as the bishop stepped out of the carriage.

"Bishop, please: my quarters have been made available to you," Arthur said. He was always the kind of person who looked after the wellbeing of all others. That is what we all liked about him.

"Ah yes I must rest"

I looked at him and rolled my eyes. "Oh, come on! You can't tell me that riding a horse; from Rome to Britain with about a dozen soldiers to protect your spoiled ass…" I mumbled. "The knights, who were standing close to me, were trying hard not to laugh, even Tristan, although he did not have a smile on his face, I could see the humor in his

eyes. I had the strange feeling that the bishop heard me as well, although I would not have cared if he had.

Once the bishop was out of the way, we all dismounted our horses, and began to lead them into the stable. I took Flecha down to the end of the stables where his stall was, where I made him stand still. He was most definitely not to pleased about this, and he let me know by prancing around and tugging on his reins. "Easy, boy," I told him as I gently stroked his neck. He snorted and bowed his head. I can't say that I blamed him: he was tired and hungry, and he knew that when he came into his stall he would get food. I gently unbuckled the girth and slid off the martingale. I took of his saddle, and what I found did not surprise me, his back was covered in sweat. I took off the martingale and led him back outside where I took a bucket of water and a sponge to wash him down. This only served to make him more impatient for food. I kept on thinking about what I had told Gawain. I could not deny that I had a desire to be that Sarmatian woman whom he would wed. I knew that I was attracted to him, but to go all the way as to say to challenge him, I was beginning to doubt my decision… but then again I guessed that he would think that I was just joking.

I was brought back to reality when Flecha tugged at his reins again and snorted. "Sorry boy, just two more seconds," I told him as I grabbed some hay and dried him. I took hold of his reins and led him into his stall, where I had to struggle to get his head gear off. Once it was off I walked out and grabbed a bucket of corn, I dumped it into his tray, and he immediately began eating 'W_ow, talk about wolfing down your food!_' I closed the stall door and just stood there and watched him eat. I lost track of time until all of a sudden I felt a pair of warm lips on my cheek, all time seemed to freeze as this man entranced me in his kiss, I felt his beard and his warm breath tickle my face. I was brought back to reality when I felt his lips move I was about to protest when I felt them by my ear when he placed a gentle kiss on my earlobe and whispered into my ear, "What about that challenge, Mer?" I froze that rough voice, that beard, his warm breath, now I knew who it was: Gawain. I stood there frozen. He began to back away, I began to turn around and respond to him, when a rough yet smooth hand gently took hold of my chin, as he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. I closed my eyes and placed my hand on his upper arm. His lips were so warm, and his touch… at that point I knew that I was in love with Gawain. All too soon, he pulled away and we looked at each other. He had those piercing blue eyes which I found myself becoming lost in…

He began to walk away, as if nothing happened, leaving me there with the tingling sensation on my lips and a warm smile from him. I watched as he left the stable. I gave one last glance towards Flecha and then left the stable making my way to my room, to get ready for the meeting we were to have at the Round Table.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed it, please review.**

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	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks for your review. **

**Here is chapter 4, enjoy.**

I walked quietly back to my room, all the while pondering over what had just happened. Why would Gawain act like that around me? It did not make any sense, for I am not beautiful, which I knew he fancied women who were beautiful. I began to think that it might very well have been merely to tease me, and mock me. After all he was no stranger to seducing women. It was probably, just the other knights who had put him up to it. I decided to just let it pass over, and act as nothing had ever happened. I reached my room and quietly slipped inside, closing the door, I began to undress and take a bath. For now I was tired of trying to understand what was going through men's head. I sat back in the tub and just let the warm water surround me and calm me; I had some time before we were going to meet at the round table.

Finally after socking in the water for some time I got up, and dressed in a slim brown dress, and made my way to the round table room.

I opened the door and quietly entered, but the noise did not go unnoticed by the other knights. "Ah, Merenwen, welcome" Arthur said motioning for me to come closer to the round table I took a seat next to Lancelot. I quickly spared a glance to Gawain where I saw him giving me a heated look. For a moment I began to feel myself becoming lost under his heated stare, but I quickly dismissed it and looked away, thankfully Arthur saved my by starting a speech.

"Let us not forget that we are the fortunate ones" he said as he stood up and raised his goblet, we all followed "Let us raise our wine to those gallant and extraordinary men who we have lost, but will be remembered through eternity" He said as we all raised our drinks further "To Freedom" Bors called out, and on cue we all followed crying out "Freedom" Just as we had taken a sip, and put our goblets back down, the door burst open and the Bishop entered, looking all glorious, or that was until he saw that it was a round table.

"A round table? What sort of evil is this?" The annoying boy said. "Arthur says that for all men and women to be men and women they must first be equal" Jols answered, '_you go, Jols_' I said to myself. "I was given to understand that they would be more of you" the Bishop said, at this point in time I really just wanted to punch him, "There were, we have been fighting here for 15 years, Bishop" Arthur said. "Of course, and yet a woman managed to survive, tell me were the other knights week, or were they all women?" The bishop said. '_Oh that is it_' "Listen Bishop, just because in Rome you believe that women are inferior, along with all other races, does not mean that this is true, so I strongly advice you to get out more" I could tell my voice was getting louder and louder. As I began to advance on the Bishop. "The knights who have fought here are more noble then your fat noble ass ever will be" I shouted as I made to lunge at him. Maybe it was lucky that Lancelot was standing there and was able to hold me back "Easy Mer, calm down it is ok, it is the last day" he whispered soothingly to me. I felt my self slowly calm down. "I suggest that you keep that woman under control Arthur" the Bishop said, "Bishop, for my men the talk about home and their comrades has always been a sensitive talk. "Of course" he said as he returned to talk to the others. "Knights you have served Rome with honor, and Rome is most grateful to your services, on these last days of service" he said as he sat down. "Day not day" I hissed. The Bishop just waved me off. And continued to sit down.

"The pope has taken a particular interest in each and every one of you, he asks if you have converted to the Roman church" the Bishop asks "They maintain the religion of their for fathers I have never questioned that" Arthur said in our defense, "Of course, they are pagans" I looked at the Bishop with pure disgust and I knew that the other knights did not like this either. "But you Arthur your passage to God is through palageus, I saw his image in your room" The Bishop said loosing interest in us and turning to Arthur, "He took my fathers place for me, his teaching have played a great role, I look forward to our reunion in Rome" Arthur said looking proud, "Ah Rome awaits you, you shall live out your life in honor and wealth" The Bishop said finally looking to us again as if mocking us.

"Alas, we are all players in an ever changing world, barbarians from every side of the world" He said as he pulled out a wooden box "Because of this Rome will pull out of indefensible outposts such as Britain, what happens to Britain is no longer of concern to us, I suppose the Saxons will claim it soon" The Bishop finished as he opened the bow. "Saxons?" I asked, the bishop looked at me and said "Yes in the north a large Saxon invasion has begun" "Saxons only claim what they kill" Lancelot began "And only kill everything" Gawain finished for him. "So that's it, you will just leave the land to the woads, I risked my life for nothing" Galahad said in both hurt and anger. "Gentlemen, lady, I your discharge papers with safe conduct throughout the Roman Empire, but first I would like to have a word with your commander" the Bishop said "In private" he said when he saw that we were not leaving. After a few seconds he banged on the table, I suppose that Lancelot took pity on him because he picked up his goblet and got up. "Come let us leave Roman business to Romans" he turned around and walked away, I followed close behind him, but not before giving the Bishop a nasty look. Gawain was close behind followed by Tristan, Galahad, Dagonet and Bors.

**A/N: There you have it Chapter 4, I hope you enjoy it.**

**Please review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: yet another chapter, enjoy**

We walked into the tavern, I was not surprised when I saw Lancelot walk up to a table where three Roman soldiers were drinking and gambling, leave it to Lancelot to be the gambler of the group. I saw Dag pass by me and walk to the bar to get a drink, I looked around in order to try and figure out what to do, when I saw Gawain and Galahad sitting at a table laughing and having fun, I began to make my way over to them.

"Hey guys, do you mind if I join you?" I asked them, Galahad looked at me with a smile, and Gawain had that look which I could not read. "Of course, Mer, Our best girl is always aloud to sit with us" Galahad said as he gestured to the spot next to him. We sat there and talked about everything and nothing for some time, until Galahad began to suggest a dagger throwing competition.

"So who is up for a game of knife throwing?" "You know I am" Gawain said as he began to get up, "What about you Mer?" Galahad asked, "You know I always take an opportunity to beet lover boy" I said referring to Gawain "Well that would depend if you can beat me love" Gawain said as he handed me a knife from his belt. I took the knife he offered me, as our fingers brushed I felt electricity run up my arms, it was not difficult to figure out that the same was happening to him, because we both froze, and for the second time today he was giving me one of those heated looks.

We were finally pulled out of our trance by Galahad saying "Perfect we have a game then" I quickly looked away from Gawain, and focused on Galahad, "Yes I believe that we do" I said as I too got up and made my way to the floor, I was shortly joined by both men, "Care to begin Mer" Gawain said gesturing to the pole which was used for knife throwing "Always the gallant knight Gawain" I said as I threw the first knife, bulls eye, satisfied with the throw I looked back at Gawain, "well Mer I am impressed, you have once again shown your quality, but now it is time that you learn from the master" he said as he gently pushed me to the side and took his place ready to throw a knife.

Both I and Galahad moved back to the table where we sat down, as soon as we had sat down a wench walked up to him and began to rub his shoulders and his chest, I could not help but roll my eyes, although I respect the choice that these women made, I could not understand how they could just throw themselves at men. My thoughts were broken by the sound of cheerful laughter coming from Gawain, Galahad and I joined the laughing party, the way in which Gawain was laughing was so hilarious, I looked up at what he had thrown and I saw the reason why he was laughing, he too had thrown a bulls eye, he was laughing to prove that I was not all that special. He walked over to the pole and took his knife. I returned my attention to the wench who was massaging Galahad, only to notice that the wench was no longer behind him, no, she was now sitting in his lap, my guess is that I had a look on my face which could be interpreted as being a look of jealousy, because out of no where I felt a pair of strong arms pull me up.

I turned to come face to face with an amused Gawain. "Not getting jealous already, if you wanted the attention of a man you should have just said so" he said to me, with a deep sexy type voice. "What do you mean jealous?" I asked him completely confused, "Well I saw how you were looking at the wench in Galahad's lap, now I can help you with that, all you had to do was ask" Gawain said, and without warning he threw himself onto the bench and pulled me down with him, so that I was sitting in his lap, "GAWAIN!!!" I shrieked more out of surprise then anything else. Unfortunately my little outburst caused a few people to turn their heads in our direction, in pure embarrassment I turned my head and buried it in Gawain's neck. I suppose that once the other people noticed who it was that had yelled, they went back to their business, I heard a knife being thrown and hitting home, along with a sigh from Gawain that it was not good enough. As I was pulling my head up from Gawain's shoulder, I heard another knife hit home, but this one sounded a bit different, I looked up at the pole, just when I heard Galahad call out Tristan's name, I saw that apparently Tristan had thrown the knife right in the center of the handle of Galahad's knife, "How did you do that?" Gawain asked, "I aim for the middle" Tristan told him as he waved around an apple which he was still eating. "SHUT UP!!" I looked up surprised about that Bors would yell someone to shut up, I saw that apparently he was talking to his lover Venora, now I was really confused, but to my advantage, I did not need to stay confused for long because he elaborated why he had told Venora to shut up, "Venora will sing" he told us, although it took quite a bit of persuasion from the men for her to sing, but in the end it worked, Venora began to sing of our home in Sarmatia

"Land of bear and land of eagle,

Land that gave us birth and blessing,

Land that called us ever homeward,

We will go home across the mountain,

We will go home,

We will go home,

We will go home,

We will go home across the mountains,

Hear our singing,

Hear our longing,

We will go home across the mountains"

As she kept on singing I began to drift off, I began to forget that I was sitting in Gawain's lap, I forgot of all the blood that I had shed. The only thing that I could see no were the vast green plains of Sarmatia, I could hear, feel and see the horses galloping wild, my family waiting for me with open arms, the sky as vast and as endless as you could imagine, I was finally going home. "ARTHUR!" My thoughts were interrupted as Jols called out to our commander, I looked up and saw Arthur as he was turning his back but them as he heard his name being called he turned around again and looked at us, "ARTHUR!" Galahad called out as Gawain gently nudged me to stand up, as he himself stood up, he took hold of my hand and led me to Arthur. "You're not completely Roman yet, right?" Galahad asked as he came close to Arthur, "RRUUSS!!!" Bors called out. If I had to say then I think that Arthur was possibly the most patriotic of us all. "Knights…" Arthur began as we had finally all gathered around him, "Brothers in arms…your courage has been tested beyond all limits" as he said this part Bors vigorously nodded his head in agreement "But I must ask you now for one further trial" he continued, "Drink" Bors commented giving a hand motion of drinking and Galahad chuckled. I liked how they were trying to lighten the mood, but at the same time I had a bad feeling about where this conversation was headed. "We must leave on a final mission for Rome, before our freedom can be granted" Arthur finished. There it was plain as daylight, just as I had feared, there was always a "but" with the Romans. Gawain and Galahad began laughing, and Gawain released my hand as he waved in front of his face as he did a half circle as if saying "sure what ever". I on the other hand did not see the situation that lightly. "Above the wall, there is a Roman family in need of our rescue, they are trapped by Saxons, our orders are to secure their rescue" He finished I had the feeling that he already knew that our reaction would not be a pleasant one. "Let the Romans take care of their own" "Above the wall is Woad territory" Gawain said, I knew that he was most definitely not pleased there were only a few times that I have ever heard him sound to emotionally hurt. "Our duty to Rome if it was ever a duty is done…" Galahad said, of course him being the youngest of the bunch was also the first one, well maybe the second one to loose his temper, "our pact with Rome is done" he finished, in a voice which contained a bitter edge to it. "Every knight here has laid his or her…" Bors said pointing to me "life on the line for you. For you!" He finished pointing at Arthur. "And instead of freedom you want more blood, our blood" He continued getting more angry by the minute, "YOU THINK MORE OF ROMAN BLOOD THEN YOU DO OF OURS" he said as he finally began to raise his voice, "Bors these are our orders, we leave at first light and when we return, your freedom will be waiting for you, a freedom we can embrace with honor" Arthur retorted aberrantly still keeping his cool. "I AM A FREE MAN, I WILL CHOOSE MY OWN FATE" Bors roared, at this point I could swear that there were unshed tears in his eyes. "Yeah, Yeah, we are all going to die some day, if it is a death from a Saxon hand that frightens you then stay home" Tristan said trying to reason with them, apparently he was not phased by the whole thing, but on the other hand the last part was said as though he was saying that if you do not want to go into battle then you are not worthy to call yourself a knight. "LISTEN IF YOU ARE SO EAGER TO DIE THEN YOU CAN DIE RIGHT NOW, I HAVE SOMETHING TO LIVE FOR" Galahad screamed at him beginning to advance on Tristan, apparently Lancelot by now had enough and steped in between the two, "Enough" "The Romans have broken their word, we have the word of Arthur, that is good enough I will prepare" Dagonet said something for the first time this evening and began to walk off "Bors are you coming?" he asked his brother, "OF COURSE I AM COMING, CAN'T LET YOU GO ON YOUR OWN, YOU'LL ALL GET KILLED" He yelled, I knew that eventually he would calm down. "I AM JUST SAYING WHAT YOU ARE ALL THINKING" he said as he, Tristan and Dagonet walked off and went to prepare. Gawain turned towards me and gave me a look at the same time grabbing my hand and giving it a comforting squeeze, I knew what he was saying and gave him a nod as we both turned towards Arthur. "And you Gawain?" Arthur asked, "I'm with you, Merenwen and Galahad as well" he answered for us, we both turned and walked away from Arthur but stopped when we noticed that Galahad was not following us, I saw Gawain throw away what was left of his wine and smashed the jug on the floor, as he walked off, as soon as he passed us we followed him out of the tavern.

**A/N: finally another chapter, sorry that it took me so long. Please review I really want to know what you guys think about it.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Here is another chapter.**

I walked back inside, after being outside clearing my head, after what had happened inside with the Bishop, I felt so furious about what he had said, how could be expect us knights to serve longer, we had been fighting here for 15 years that was the bargain which had been struck between the Romans and our forefathers. It is not fair that this Bishop demands that we go on this mission just to go to and save a roman family, it just was not fair. As I was walking back inside I was met by Tristan standing at the entrance, leaning against the door frame.

"You seem troubled" he said as I came up to him, "How can you read people's minds so clearly?" I asked him, "After you have watched people over a longer time, you begin to develop the ability to read people, and I can tell that you are troubled, what is it that has you so rapt?" "It is this whole mission, it is not fair we have paid our 15 years they can not make us do this" I said by now after pondering over the mission for such a long time, I felt it begin to get to me. I closed my eyes in order to be able to take inner measures to calm my self. I have to be honest I do not know how long I stood there, but when I felt Tristan put his arms around me and pulled me into his embrace, I began to realize that I was trembling.

"Hey its ok," he said soothingly, "I am here. We are all here, and we will look after each other. Everything will be ok" He said as he put his head on my shoulder.

At this point I was crying openly, and buried my head in his chest. We stood like this for a while before we pulled away. Tristan looked at me and while wiping away my tears said "Now let me see a smile" I gave him a weak smile, but he could see that the smile was not reaching my eyes, "No not that kind a real smile" I do not know what it is but every time he said this it always made me smile and laugh, and it was no different this time either. "That is my girl, now let us go inside and get you into bed" Tristan put his arm around me once again, and led me back inside and to my room.

"Good night Merenwen" Tristan leaned down and gave me a good night kiss on the check, "Good night Tristan" I told him in return as I entered my room and shut the door behind me, I began to make myself ready for bed and the end of another day.

**A/N: Here is another chapter; I decided to bring Tristan into the story a bit more. I hope that you liked it, and I would really like to have some more reviews, so begin reading (ANGEL FACE)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**A/N: thank you – for your review, I am glad that you like it, yeah I do know that Merenwen is an elvish name. **

**Here is chapter 8, I hope that you enjoyed it.**

The next morning as I woke up, I was about to leap with joy at the thought that I could finally go back to Sarmatia. However just before I got the chance, reality just had to show its ugly head and I remembered that the BISHOP had thought that a roman family was more important then us. Then again he had called us pagans, so it would only be natural that we would be considered to be worthless in his eyes.

I slowly groaning got out of bed and got dressed as I headed down to the stalls were I knew that everyone would be waiting, as I walked into the stables, the first thing which caught my eye was Gawain sitting there sharpening his axes, as I saw his triceps flex, I found my self momentarily in a trance and paralyzed, that was until a horse nearly trampled me over, I looked up ready to bark at what ever idiotic Roman thought that he could just run me down, but before I could say anything I realized it Galahad. I looked at him and glared at him.

Just as I was about to walk forward to the rest of the group, I saw Arthur walk by me and walked to the group, I quickly moved forward to catch up with him. As we were walking we were being constantly circled by Galahad, as if he were insnaring his prey, Arthur did not really pay much attention to him, but I on the other hand could not help but think if he was really going to strike, even though deep down inside I knew that he was too gentle to strike at his own commander, and kinfolk.

When we reached the rest of the group who were all very concentrated on cleaning their weapons, I felt a pair of eyes on me, and as I looked up I was met with the intense blue eyes of Gawain, the intensity of the stare caught me in a trance, it was like he was trying to drill a hole through me and into my very soul. His gaze lingered for an instant and then adverted. Not a minute passed after that and the Bishop along with his servant. The bishop imidietly gave us looks which said: '_You do not have the right to even be alive'._

I guess that you could say because of this we did not give him a warm welcome, Dagonet was the first to start it, he came from behind and as passing shoulder budded the bishop. After that it was Bors turn to stand up and by using his height and width to intimidate the bishop.

"As a representative of the whole church my trusted assistant Horten will accompany you on your quest" The bishop said. Looking over his shoulder he called out "HORTUN!" and as obediently as he was Hortun came forth to stand next to his beloved master.

I looked to Arthur to see if he was really going to let this pathetic Roman join us on this quest, and to my surprise he did "Jolls find this man a horse" in front of me a heard a sharp blade find it's home in one of the benches of wood. I looked up and saw Gawain giving Arthur an annoyed look.


	9. Chapter 9

I knew that if I stayed where I was that I was seriously going to hurt someone, I just hoped that if that were to happen that it would be the bishop that would find himself under the blade of my wrath. Unfortunately I also knew that if that were to happen that not only would I find my self in deep, deep shit but I would also drag the others with me, so I decided to go and find comfort with the one that would not reject me no matter what. I unlatched the stall door to Flecha's stall and walked in, and as always my expectations were not disappointed, with a gentle cry Flecha came to greet me. I reached into my pocket and found a carrot there, I offered it to him, and as always he did not hesitate to take it.

"We have to face the greatest test that we have ever faced today boy" I told him as I gently stroked his neck, Flecha bowed his head and nudged me along with a snicker, as if he already knew what I was talking about.

I walked out of the stall to grab a brush and to brush him down, before I tacked him up. Once he was ready I lead him out of his stall and out into the arena where the other knights were, I looked to see their faces and I could see that they most certainly were not happy, then I noticed something that made me struggle not to giggle and that was that they were all shooting death glares at the bishops messenger Horton, the poor guy looked like this was the last place he wanted to be. I shook my head and grabbed a hand full of Flecha's mane, hoisting myself up onto his back and into the saddle.

Once I was up on Flecha and had gathered the reins into my hand, I looked up just in time to see Arthur ride in on Feonaro, He brought Feonaro to a halt in front of us and gave a sharp nod and then turned Feonaro around and set him into a canter in direction of the northern gate, the rest of the knights set out to follow him and I feel in line at the rear alongside of Tristan. As we began to get closer and closer to the northern gate, it was clear to me that it had not been opened in a really long time, considering the fact that they had to use two shire horses to pull it open. I was brought back to reality from Flecha giving a small jump and throwing his head up high, at first I did not know what he was saying, but then all too soon, I understood he was telling me that we were going under the arc soon and that I should keep my guard up, I saw Arthur pass under it, and then just before it was our turn I thought to myself "I hope we make it out alive" but even as I said this to myself in hope that I could convince myself of it I could not help but think that this mission would not go through without great peril, I leaned down and brought both of my hands down on Flecha's neck silently asking for him to be my guide and to protect me during this time of darkness, he in turn bowed his head and brought it back up along with a gently jump, as if to say "Everything would be fine".


	10. Chapter 10

We rode over the hills and across the plains, all of the time maintaining focus on what may be lurking in the bushes or in the trees, Every once in a while Arthur would order Tristan and I to go and scout, and every time we would come back with the same result, only tracks of where Woads had been but no Woads. As the day progressed our company became wearier of what may be lurking behind every rock, and as a result of this the horses became restless and jumpy. This unfortunately did not improve when the damned weather decided to take a turn for the worse and reward our troubles with a storm. Through the wind and the storm I could have sworn that I heard the guys moan and grunt, from the displeasure of being in a storm with scorching winds and being drenched. Matters only worsened when we had to pass through the forest. Before we entered the forest I had been leaning over Flecha's neck to give him extra reach, but now that we had to pass through the murky forest I found myself pressing further and further in the saddle. Flecha felt this and protested violently by stopping up and making small rears along with throwing his head up into the air.

Because of the hard winds, The rest of the guys had not heard that I had stopped, that is all except for Tristan who as usual can detect anything, no matter what the conditions are, he was always the one that has the ears of a fox and the eyes of a hawk and Jols and Horton had been riding behind me. Tristan turned Indian around and came cantering back, he brought Indian right up next to Flecha, reigned Indian in and then gave him sharp kicks to the sides to make him plunge, but without really moving anywhere just to go a head in front of Flecha, as Tristan was doing this I saw out of the corner of my eyes Jols who was trying to get his horse out of the way and at the same time trying to calm Horton's horse who because Horton has a face of utter fear on his face he was making his horse panic.

After a short while what Tristan's trick worked and Flecha plunged and went back into a fast canter, Tristan kept Indian right next to Flecha in case there was more trouble, and Jols stayed next to Horton. All of a sudden I saw a figure on a horse up ahead which was bouncing all over the place, I tried to squint against the rain, and then as we got closer I could see that it was a white horse, at first I thought that it might be Arthur, but then when we came up closer I saw to my surprise that it was Gawain, who apparently had noticed that we were not there and turned around to come back and see what was going on.

It seemed as though Adrian (the Dark One) was most definitely not happy that he had to wait in the same place away from the others for an unknown reason as we galloped past, Gawain plunged Adrian into the a canter and came up to ride on my other side, I looked at him and saw that he had an expression of concern, and he asked with his eyes if everything was alright, I responded with a nod and then focused once again on the road ahead. It did not take long to catch up with the rest. Apparently Gawain had managed to get word to Arthur that there had been problems and Arthur had ordered that they camp in this spot. The three of us brought the horses up to a halt in front of the group and dismounted. I looked up just in time to see Arthur walking up to me "Merenwen what happened?" he asked, as he asked this I could not only feel Gawain's eyes on me but also I feel the color begin to rise in my face, "It is rather embarrassing" I told him, I was forced to look up when I felt to strong hands on my shoulders, As I brought my head up I was met with the steady gaze of Arthur "It is alright Mer just tell us" he gently told me, so I took a deep breath and began to explain what had happened, once I was done I heard Bors voice call out "It's alright Mer we all feel uneasy in these woods, and it is only natural that the horses would feel the same" I looked up at him and gave him a smile and a node. I felt a firm nudge on my back which I recognized as being Flecha who was getting grumpy from the cold storm, I turned around gave him a pat on the neck and lead him to stand with the other horses under a bunch of trees, where he could have at least some protection from the rain. "Anyway, there is always food to make you feel better" I jumped at the sudden sound of Bors booming voice, I turned sharply around and found that he was holding some fruit which they had picked, I walked over to him sat down and thanked him, as I began to eat. We sat there in the rain under the trees, talking about what we were going to do when we got back to Sarmatia. I must say that I was not surprised when the guys talked about which bastards they had sired and who had an affair with Verona. I swear that if that girl could be here now she would be giving Lancelot a lecture on how to behave, yet at the same time by the way that Bors was responding I could not help but giggle a little.

All of a sudden out of nowhere there was a loud rumble of thunder and followed by a loud groan coming from Gawain, "I can't wait to leave this island" I turned too look at him and I really had to struggle not to start laughing at the way that he looked, he really looked like a wet cat. "If its not raining, it's snowing, if its not snowing its fogging" I looked at him with a grin and said "Poor thing" The result was that he looked at me with a glare, at first I thought that he was serious, but then I saw that he had humor in his eyes, after that I could not hold it anymore the laughter just came out freely, but even though behind all of the laughter I could still hear Lancelot "And that's the summer?" Gawain only shook his head in response "The rain is good" Bors stated in a deep voice, which let us all know that there was something other then the weather on his mind, "It washes all the blood away" for some strange reason I had the feeling where all of this was headed, "Doesn't help the smell" Dag said surprising us all, because this was indeed the first time that he had spoken since I got back from the ordeal with Flecha. I was not surprised when I heard Bors laugh at his statement; I mean seriously leave it to boys to enjoy that kind of talk.

I sat there and focused more onto my food, when I heard that Lance had decided to change subject, but unfortunately I do not think that it was for the better, "Hey Bors, You intend to take Verona and all of you're little bastards back home?" "Oh, I try to avoid that decision" he said seriously, but then tried to crack a joke by saying "by getting killed" Gawain and a few other guys actually laughed about that, I on the other hand just rolled my eyes and got up, to go and check up on the horses, but because the horses were close by I could still hear the guys talking and so I could follow the conversation. "Dagonet she wants to get married and give the children names" Bors said as if it was the most outrageous thing in the world, "Women!" Dag said in return "Hey!!!" I cried from over by the horses, but the only response I got was a grin from Bors. "The Children Already have Names don't they?" Tristan asked from were he sat cleaning his sword, "Thank you Tristan, now that is what most parents would do" I told them with a hint of humor in my voice, "Like I said women" Dag said with a grin and also a hint of humor, I looked at him and just shook my head along with a comment of "Men!!" That caused another few laughs from the group, Bors went back to answer Tristan with a comment of "Just Guilly, it's too much trouble so we gave the rest of them numbers" "That's interesting I thought you couldn't count?" Of course leave it up to Lancelot to come up with the smart comments, at this all of the guys began laughing, "You know I never thought I would get back home alive, but now that I got the chance I do not want to leave my children" "You'd miss them too much" Dag said, showing the side of himself that not many people got to see, "I'll take them with me, I like the little bastards, that means something to me" he said in a dreamy state and then just to show the guys that he was not going soft, he just had to throw in "Especially number three, he's a good fighter" I was completely caught up in what he was saying, I also kind of knew what he was going through because I felt the same way about my family, I missed them so much, and I guess I was so caught up in the speech that I did not see the comment coming "That's because he's mine" I did however notice that Gawain had spit out his drink and Bors stormed off with a comment of "I'm going for a piss" The entire group began laughing and although it was very mean I had to laugh as well. As soon as we calmed down I went and bade them all good night and went and got my matt ready to get some rest, we would have to see what we would encounter tomorrow.


	11. Chapter 11

The next day when I woke, I could not say that the weather had become much better, although the rain had stopped, there was still an enormous amount of wind going on.

From where the horses stood I could hear that they were not happy about the weather conditions, I could hear the mighty hooves of Feonaro crash on to the ground as he swayed from side to side, half angry about the whether and half spooked from the leaves and branches that would suddenly fly in front of him.

In the midst of all the stomping I could hear Flecha, along with the rest of the horses protesting to the fact that he had to stand outside, rather then have a warm stall to wait out the storm.

Then there was something that caught my attention and made me grin, I might of forgot to mention that by now I was awake but, still pretending to be asleep, not wanting to face the reality of the situation, of being on a God forsaken island, with miserable weather, saving a family that belonged to a blood line that we have hated from the moment that we drew our first breath.

I heard the groans of the men that had apparently woken to greet the morning. There was nothing I would want more to stay asleep and just sleep the day away, although I knew that it was not possible.

All of a sudden out of nowhere a felt gently yet rough hand on my cheek and warm lips on my forehead, out of natural reaction I groaned and slowly opened my eyes to find that Gawain was looming above me, with a tender look in his eyes. "Come on Mer it is time to get going" I looked at him and softly groaned, he gave a gently chuckle which came from deep within his chest and gave me a hand in getting up.

I packed up my things and made my way over to where Flecha was standing, tacked him up, and took the food that was offered to me by Gawain. We headed over to where the other knights were and sat down for a quick breakfast. It was not long after I had sat down, that I had realized just how crap the weather was. The cold cut me straight to the bone. And as hard as I tried to hide my shivering I guess that it showed because, I felt a warm body come up and sit on the log behind me, with a leg on each side of me. Startled I turned my head only to discover that it was Gawain. I immediately relaxed and leaned back into him.

Gawain wrapped a secure arm around me, which he also used to pull his cloak around him self as well as me, and with the other he was eating with. I looked around and saw that the other knights had gentle smiles on their faces, as if approving of the situation.

As soon as we were finished with our breakfast, we got up, and walked over to the horses, I tacked Flecha up, gave him a soft pat on the shoulder and swung myself into the saddle, and fell in line next to Gawain, as we continued on our journey through the woods and to the roman estate.

Although the rest of the ride through the forest was anything but easy, branches were everywhere and it was lucky that none of us had been hit so far, also the fact that the wind was howling was not helping matters. The horses were getting more and more restless by the moment.

We remains as quiet as possible during the ride, in order to draw the least attention as possible, yet when Tristan called out that we were being tracked by woads, it was clear that the effort was in vain, "Where?" I heard Arthur ask as I tried to keep my eyes pealed as if there would be a woad that would jump out at me and call I'm here and then kill us. "Everywhere" Tristan answered Arthur. "Oh great, thanks Tristan, now I can relax" I groaned out, in a hushed voice in order not to give away where we were, but hey if Tristan was right then they already knew. However Gawain and Galahad had both heard me and groaned in unison.

We continued to make our way through the dense forest, only this time more cautiously then before, now that it was known that there were woads. Unconsciously I moved my hand to the hilt of my sword, and I could have sworn that I could seen the woads run around in the forest. Unfortunately Flecha thought the same thing as he became more wild, and difficult to handle.

And then it came, arrows which had ropes attached, began to fly in front of Arthur and Feonaro, blocking our path, and leaving us no other choice then to turn around and take another path, Flecha reared up and jumped side ways as Arthur turned Feonaro around, quickly followed by the others, Flecha was still doing the ballet and it was difficult to get him to face the right way, but once he did I gave him his head and spurred him on, Flecha was all to eager to agree. By the time I had caught up with the rest, the woads had already once again blocked our path, and Feonaro, was doing a similar stunt to what Flecha had just done, and desperately trying to avoid the arrows.

"Get back!" Lancelot yelled but I was too stunned to do all too much, or at least that was until "GET BACK!!!" I heard Bors yell to us, and then sure enough it sunk in, I reined Flecha in and made him pivot on his hind legs to get around, narrowly missing the arrow that came in front of him, I felt him take his head in and sideways, forcing me to follow him and nearly throwing me to the ground, making me miss the arrow that was intended for my head.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Galahad take another rout followed closely by Gawain, Dagonet and then I, although once again we could only get so far when a weird contraption with spears rose from the ground. Trapping us, I looked around for an alternative, when I heard another arrow being fired, I looked up to the source only to see a woad with an arrow notched into his bow, I followed the arrows intended path and to my horror saw that it was aimed at Gawain and he had not noticed. "GAWAIN!!!!!" I screamed at him, he reined Adrian in thinking that something had happened to me, but luckily my plan worked and the arrow missed.

"This way!" Arthur yelled as he drew Feonaro into a passage between two trees. The rest of us wasted no time in following him, but just as I had been expecting to once again be blocked off by arrows, Woads appeared with spears and began thrusting them into Feonaro face, making him rear high up into the air. I decided to do the only thing that I could do and that was turn Flecha around and ride the other way. But by now all of our escape routes had been cut off, and we were trapped, I brought Flecha to a halt behind Thunder Bors' horse, and Gawain brought Adrian to a sudden halt next to Flecha, we looked at each other, and with his eyes he told me that it would be ok, but I had a hard time believing it. We heard a horn sound deep in the forest and the woads seemed to hesitate, but the truth was that there was no were we could go, so it did not matter how long they hesitated we were stuck, and it would only be a matter of time before we were dead. Next to me, Gawain decided to voice my thoughts by calling out "What are you waiting for?" Then a second horn blew and the Woads pulled back into the forest. "Inish" Dag said in a rough voice, I had no idea what he meant by it, but it must have shown clearly on my face, "Devil Ghosts" he said, we that certainly helped. "Why did they not attack?" Galahad asked Arthur "Merlin does not want us dead" was his simple reply.

After we were sure that the woads had gone we continued and made our way out of the forest were we camped in the plains under a bunch of trees, the meal was eaten in silence, and when everyone had gone to bed, I found that I could not sleep after the ordeal that happened today. So I got up and went out into the plain, I just stood there are stared out at the forest, taking everything that had happened in, and not realizing that I had been Followed. Until it was too late.


	12. Chapter 12

A branch snapped behind me causing me to jump. I drew my sword and spun around, coming face to face with Gawain who instantly put his hands up in defense "Whoa, easy it's just me" I slowly let out a breath that I was not aware I was holding. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that" I told him as I turned back around to face the plains of Britain.

"Something's bothering you, I can feel it" he announced as he approached me and placed his hands on my shoulders, gently kneading the muscles that he found there. I was surprised at how tense I was, "It's nothing" I casually told him as I closed my eyes and leaned into his touch enjoying the feeling that it was evoking somewhere deep within.

All of a sudden I felt Gawain's beard gently tickle the shell of my ear, and his deep dark voice whispering seductively in my ear "Tell me" I really do not know how he managed to do it, but it was as if with those two simple words the dam broke, I broke free of his touch and threw myself into his arms, wrapping my arms around his neck and crying into his chest.

"I was so scared" I sobbed, slowly regaining his composure he began to rub my back in circles with his battle worn hands. "Scared of what?" he asked sounding a bit surprised, but who could blame him after fighting in endless losing battles for 15 years, and only now showing the symptoms of fear.

I chocked back a sob, and told him "I am so scared, I thought I would lose you" "Hey it's ok I'm still here" he replied, as he buried his face in the side of my neck "Please, please" he picked up his head and looked at me in curiosity and confusion "Please what?" "Please don't leave me, I love you" All of a sudden I felt him tense and realized what I had just told him.

I waited, horrified of what he would do or say, If I lost him I would be devastated. After what seemed like hours I felt his warm hands under my chin, gently coaxing my head up from his chest, but I refused to look into his eyes "Merenwen look at me" the tone of his voice was firm but gentle at the same time, slowly and a bit reluctantly I looks into his eyes, and was relieved that there was no disgust, only amazement, compassion and…Love? But it could not be I was a knight, covered in scars and dirt, men ran away from me, not fall in love with me. "Did you mean it?" he asked his eyes and voice held such tenderness that there was no way that I could lie to him "yes" I told him timidly and quietly "Oh Mer" he breathed as he dipped his head and caught my lips in a passionate kiss, that was full of tenderness and love.

(Narrator POV)

Unbeknown to both of them there was a lone scout watching them from his spot beneath the tree with only but a hint of a smile on his face.

(Normal POV)


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning I woke up to the sound of birds chirping, the comforting warmth which encased me like a silken blanket and a warm hand that was gently caressing my face.

Slowly I began to open my eyes relishing the last few moments of heaven before we had to continue our journey.

"Good morning love" I looked around to identify the warm voice which had disturbed the peaceful early hours of the morning, only to find Gawain looking at me with a look of tenderness and love, "Hmm morning" I stretched and curled back into the warmth which his body provided. I felt him shake as he chuckled softly "Come on Mer we have to get going, we still have a long journey ahead of us today. "I don't want to" I quietly whined and curled further into him. "Ok, come on time to go" he said as he gave my rump a slap and slowly got up, allowing the cold air to hit me.

"Alright I'm up" I groaned as I got up and headed for the rest of the group who were already eating breakfast and talking quietly. I walked over to the fire, picked up some meat and an apple, and sat down next to Dag.

It was only now that I realized that the guys had stopped talking and I now had six pairs of eyes on me. I looked around and saw that Tristan had a knowing look in his eyes and the ghost of a smile on his face, where as the others had large grins on their faces, except for Dag, who had a kind smile and glint in his eyes.

"What?" I asked them as I looked at each one of them. Bors as usual was the first to talk, "So, what happened?" he asked with the goofiest dream I have ever seen.

"Nothing happened" I said, and by this time I knew that I had a big smile on my face, because my face felt like it was going to split. "Sure nothing happened, then explain why you slept with Gawain?" Lancelot chipped in, I had no answer for Lancelot's comment but a smile, as I looked up to spot Gawain picking up his food and coming over to join us, he sat down next to me, gave me a peck on the lips and went about eating his food. "Congratulations to the both of you" Arthur said, both Gawain and I replied at the same time, I looked up at Gawain letting out a very girlish giggle in cheerfulness, he smiled lovingly at me and threaded his arm around my waist and returned to his food, the others returned to their food and conversations, but now everyone had a smile on their faces.

Both Gawain and I sat mostly in silence eating our food, occasionally sparing glances at each other and joining in the conversation, but one thing was for sure throughout this mission, this was the happiest anyone had been for now there was a reason to celebrate.

Once everyone was done eating, we began to pack, gathering our stuff and placing them in the saddle bags.

I picked up Flecha's saddle and bridle and walked over to where he was stomping the ground in a bad temper "Good Morning boy" I greeted him and offered him an apple, Flecha sniffed the apple and turned his head away while laying his ears back and stomping the ground once again just to establish the point that he was mad. "What's the matter Flecha? Didn't sleep well?" I asked him as I placed the saddle on his back; he merely shook his head in denial. "What then?" but there was no reply just more stomping.

I felt someone walk behind me and tug my hair, my immediate reaction was to reach back and make sure that it was still in place. I turned around to see who it was, only to come face to face with Gawain "Hey" I said as I slowly came up to him and slowly and lazily wound my arms around his neck. "Hello love" he said as I closed the gaps between us and kissed me gently.

Neither one of us were prepared for what came next, out of nowhere Flecha gave the angriest scream I have ever heard, and lunged at Gawain knocking him to the ground "FLECHA!!" I looked to the horse and saw that he was trying to break free from his restraints to get to Gawain, all the time he had his ears plastered to his neck and was rearing and kicking with his front hooves.

I knew that if I did not do something then Gawain would most likely end up hurt, so I did the only thing that I could do I rushed over to where Flecha was and tried to calm him down by talking soothing words to him and gently stroking his neck.

It worked and soon he started snorting softly and nuzzling into my side. "So that's it, your jealous of Gawain" I stated, Flecha snorted softly and shook his head, "It isn't it?"

Somewhere during the whole quarrel the other knights had rushed over to see what the matter was, thinking that something bad had happened "What is going on?" Arthur asked as he had a hand on the hilt of his sword just to be ready for any kind of danger.

"It's nothing Arthur, Flecha is just jealous of Gawain" I told them, and sure enough they all started laughing, Bors walked over to Gawain and clasped him on the back "Well old friend, it looks like you have competition" they then all walked on to get their horses tacked up.

I looked over to where Gawain was and saw him sulking slightly, I walked over to him and put my hands on his chest "Oh poor baby, don't worry you will always be my number one" I told him as I reached up to kiss him, it did not take long for Gawain to respond, and this time the only reaction we got from Flecha was a loud snort.

As we pulled apart Gawain looked down at me and gently caressed my face "Be careful out there" "Always" was my reply "And you be careful too" I told him as I gave him one last peck and made my way back over to Flecha where he gave me a grumpy snort and a shove "Don't worry Flech you will always be my best boy" I told him as I continued tacking him up.

He seemed to accept the answer and opened his mouth as I offered him the bit which he took gladly. Once the horses were tacked up we mounted them and were on our way. Hopefully we would be arriving at the estate that day.


	14. Chapter 14

It was around midday when we finally reached the estate, I urged Flecha forward, and brought him up to Bor's horse Black Bird, anxious to get to the estate. The sooner we got there the sooner we could leave again.

I looked around and saw that there was a whole village outside the safety of the walls; I could honestly not say that I was surprised; it was so typical Roman, for the Christians to be comfortable on a cushion and in safety, while the rest of us get the short end of the deal. As we rode up to the estate the workers, working the fields, dropped their shovels and running over to see who we were. I noticed that a lot of the workers looked scrawny and sickly. Knowing the Romans and how they treat pagans they were most likely barely getting any food at all.

I turned my attention back to the front, and saw that the damn Romans were closing the door, just as Arthur was cantering up to it.

I brought Flecha to a halt just behind Arthur, just in time to see a guard come into view on the top of the wall, the guard looked down at us as nothing but pagans, "Who are you?" He asked in a voice full of disgust. "I am Arthur Castus, commander of the Sarmatian Knights, and by Bishop Germanus of Rome, Open the Gate" The guard above gave a light nod, and nudged the guard next to him, waving his had, as a gesture for him to go and open the gate.

The guard disappeared, and a short while later the gate opened, revealing Marius emerging from within the wall, along with four Roman guards behind him. "It is a wonder you have come, good Jesus, Arthur and his knights" Marius said as he put his hands together, as if he was praying to HIS God, and coming closer to us. He moved to touch Flammen (the Flame), Galahads horse, but before he could get too close Flammen reared back whipping his head out of the way.

He seemed to make nothing of it, and returned his attention to Arthur, "You have fought the Woads? Vile creatures!" he said as he shook his head in disgust. "Our orders are to evacuate you immediately" Arthur informed Marius. Who in turn chuckled, looked around and said "That is impossible" Arthur paid little attention to the man and continued his questioning.

"Which one is Alecto?" "I am Alecto" came a voice from above; I looked up to where the voice came from and saw that there was a young porcelain boy, who looked like he had not touched a weapon in all of his life.

"Alecto is my son" Marius informed Arthur, "And everything we have, is here, in this land, given to us by the pope of Rome" "Well you are about to give it to the Saxons" the statement came from none other then Lancelot, as usual being the one to have a short fuse when dealing with Romans.

"Their invading from the North" Arthur told Marius who was looking at Lancelot like he had two heads. "Then Rome will send an army" he said as he put his hands on his waist and began to turn around "They have, us" I told him, I was really getting tired of these Romans. Rome this and Rome that. Marius whipped around looking extremely shocked at me, probably insulted that I dare talk to him, "And I suppose a woman can protect me better then my men can?" he said with malice. Next to me I could see Gawain tense up and reach for his ax. I knew that if he even attempted to strike Marius then we would all be in serious trouble. So I did the only thing I could, I gently reached over and grabbed his arm, he looked at me, and I shook my head slightly. I saw him hesitate and then remove his hand from the axe.

At the same time Marius, noticed that the villagers were gathered around us, "Get back to work! All of you!" The guards who seemed to be loyal to him moved towards the villagers, throwing them to the ground and telling them to get back to work. I could see that most of the villagers were not moving back out of respect, but rather out of fear.

Arthur having had enough of the arrogance of the plump man got off Feonaro and with his head held high made his way over to him, he stopped right in front of Marius, towering over him, Marius moved back intimidated by Arthur. "If I fail to bring you and your son back, my men can never leave this land, so you're coming with me, if I have to tie you to my horse, and drag you all the way back to Hadrian's Wall myself. My Lord" Arthur looked behind Marius, where there was a woman standing, most likely Marius' wife "Lady my knights are hungry".

The woman looked to her husband for permission; he granted it by waving her off. She was soon followed by her husband and her son, and all of their guards. Once the object of my focus was out of view, I turned my attention to Gawain, who was still looking in the direction of the estate, with a look that was a mixture of troubled and anger.

I placed my left leg into Flecha's side, gently urging him towards Adrian, once he was close enough; I leaned over and gently gave him a peck on the cheek. Gawain turned his head to look at me, I reached my hand over and gently rubbed his arm, "Hey, are you alright?" "I don't like him," he said as he glanced down, and then back at me "If you had not stopped me I would have killed him then and there" I continued to gently stroke his arm and look deeply into his eyes "I know, I don't like him either, but we have but little choice" I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, and then got off of Flecha to follow Arthur, who had decided to wonder off into the village.

I saw Arthur hold up his sword and point it in the direction of the village "Who is this man?" he asked the young man who was trying to be recruited as a knight under Arthur. "He's our village elder" All the time we were too far behind to see what was going on in front of the crowd but we could still hear the conversation "What is this punishment for?" we heard Arthur. A long time passed before we heard Arthur's commanding voice rose, in a demand for an answer, "He defied out master Marius, most of the food we grow is sent out by sea to be sold, he asked that we keep a little more for our selves that's all, MY ARSE HAS BEEN SNAPPING AT THE GROUND I AM SO HUNGRY, your from Rome is it true that Marius is a spokes man for God, and that it is a sin to defy him?" there was a long pause, and all of us knew what was coming next, "I tell you now, Marius is not of God, and you ALL OF YOU, WERE FREE FROM YOUR FIRST BREATH!" Yup we were right, as we had all predicted Arthur gave his speech of the "merciful God".

Then came the sound of metal hitting chains and a heavy thump, it was clear to all of us that Arthur had just cut down the village elder. "Help this man" again another long pause "HELP HIM!" Arthur commanded. "Now hear me, a vast and terrible army is coming this way, they will show no mercy spare no one, those of you who are able should gather your things and begin to move south towards Hadrian's Wall. Those unable shall come with us" After I heard that I wanted to smack someone. Damn Arthur and his kindness, he was going to get us all killed. I looked around and it was no surprise to me that he was thinking the same.

I turned around looking for Gawain, and saw that he had already moved back to the horses, and although Flecha was not pleased with Gawain holding him, and showed it by laying his ears back, but at least he was not trying to kill him, and allowed Gawain to hold his reins.

I made my way over to them, "we cannot delay, I fear that if these people come with us, then we will not make it even half way to the wall" I told his as I took Flecha's reigns from him, Gawain reached over and gently grabbed my arm, urging me to face him "I know love, I feel it too, but we must trust Arthur, he has yet to lead us astray" I nodded, as much as I hated the idea, I knew that Gawain was right. I grabbed hold of Flecha's mane and swung myself into the saddle. Giving Flecha a gentle clap on his shoulder I urged him on, to scout the village.

As we moved between houses and carriages, I saw that some people looked at me with fear and others amazement. I knew that we all looked feral and vicious, but the truth was that none of us were evil, but we also knew how hard it was to survive out there, in the open. That it was very unlikely that these people even got to the wall. That these people could very well be the death of all of us, personally do not want to see these people hurt, they are so similar to us, yet if it came down to a battle there was little that any of us could do to save them all.

I was brought out of my thoughts by the sounds of drums, I pulled in Flecha's reigns to listen to the sound, and there was little doubt in my mind that it was the Saxons, who were already closing in on us. _Damn if they are this close already, there is no telling how long it will take for them to catch up with us, once we are on our way _"Come on, get back to work" I heard someone command, and in the distance I could see a kind of shed, where there were two workers and two guards. I also saw that the other knights were making their way over to them "Come on Flecha, lets go" he nickered and took bigger strides towards the shed.

I arrived at the shed just in time to see Arthur get off of Feonaro and precede the rest of the way towards the shed on foot, with his sword drawn. We all moved our horses quicker to get there faster, in case there would be some kind of resistance.

Arthur pointed his sword to two guards who were approaching him in order to stop him and intimidate him, as if that was going to happen, "Move!, MOVE!"

Bors and Lancelot drew their swords and brought Black Bird and Tempest, right up next to two guards, in order to emphasize the order which Arthur was giving them. "MOVE!!" finally the two guards did as they were told and moved away. Arthur tuned around to the two scrawny men who were guarding the hut "What is this?" he asked them "You cannot go in there, no one goes in there, this place is forbidden" One of the men answered in a very Roman accent.

"What are you doing? Stop this!" Marius said as he came forward. I drew my sword and pulled on Flecha's reins and guided him backwards to block his way.

Arthur moved forward to inspect the wall to the annoyance of all of us, but it was Lancelot who voiced our annoyance "Arthur we have no time" "Do you not hear the drums" Galahad said.

Arthur turned around and looked straight at us "Dagonet" he ordered. Dagonet got off his horse, took his axe and walked over to the brick wall. He took a moment to make sure everyone was at a safe distance and swung the axe, it took him 6 swings till the stone wall fell. He gave the door a kick only to realize that it was locked, he looked towards Arthur who in turn looked towards the guards. As I was still blocking Marius, "Key" he ordered, "It is locked" I could not help but roll my eyes at the comment, "From the Inside" The guard finished apparently realizing that he had stated the obvious.

Arthur looked back towards Dagonet gave him a firm nod, as a signal that he could continue. Dagonet turned back to face the door and kicked it hard with his foot.


	15. Chapter 15

Luthien's POV –

Every bone in my body was on fire as I lay huddled in my cell, listening to the man sitting outside our cells chant some ritual to his God. I looked towards Guinevere's cell. Although I could not hear anything I knew that she was in pain, alive, but in pain. It could not have been more then an hour since the last torture session, where they had tortured us both, for answers which we did not even have.

Suddenly out of no where there was a tremendous sound coming from outside. It sounded like some one was trying to get in. I quickly scurried towards the back of my cell, and waited for what was undoubtedly still to come. I waited for what seemed like hours until finally the man standing outside our cells stood up to go and see who the intruders were.

"Who are these defilers of the lord's temple?" the man asked. I heard a warm comforting voice come out of the darkness, commanding the man to move out of the way as he shoved his way by him. The voice brought warmth and solitude which we have all been deprived of since we were first thrown into these rotten cells.

For the longest time I just sat there, not daring to move closer to the cell gate, for fear that this was all just a trap. I was determined that no matter how soothing the voice of the man was, and no mater how much needed comfort it brought I was not going to move.

For what seemed like hours we just sat there hearing nothing but the sound of burning torches. Until finally "The work of your God" it was the same man who had spoken earlier "Is this how he answers your prayers?" I was felt lost I could not understand what was going on, it sounded as if the man was speaking to a Christian, when clearly the man was not a Christian himself, yet he spoke to the other as if they were brothers.

"See if there is any still alive" Another male voice spoke, this time the voice was harsher, it sounded Roman, and yet it still held gentleness to it. There was a loud clash of steel and one of the cell gates fell open. "How dare you set foot in this holy place?" this time it was another voice that I did recognize, it was one of those filthy Romans who stood by earlier and watched us being tortured, with a smug look on his face.

I heard a loud groan and then the sound of flesh being pierced by metal, indicating that one of the men had just been killed, yet who it was I did not know. Secretly I hoped that it was one of the Romans.

"There was a man of God!" This was another voice that I recognized, the man who had stood watch outside our cells all this time. "Not my God!" sounded the warm and comforting voice once again.

"This one's dead!" came the voice from the gentle Roman. "By the smell they are all dead" this time it was a completely different voice a much harsher voice, yet held just as much tenderness as all the others. "And you, you even move, you join him" The same man said once again.

"Arthur!" This voice was the most soothing voice I had yet to hear, it was full of warmth and kindness, yet there was also a greater sadness to the voice as well, as though the man who it belong to had been through something that no one could describe. It was only then that it hit me. The man had just found Lucan, a young boy who had been taken hostage three weeks ago, his parents had been killed, partly because of starvation and partly due to the torture that their bodies could not stand.

I wanted to scramble to the gate of my cell and protect the poor boy, yet I knew that my broken body would not be of much use against such men. Lucan's only hope now was that these men would hopefully not harm him.

"You must not fear me" the gentle man said to Lucan as he brought him out of his small hole. The only thing that I could do was hope that the man meant what he said. I saw one of the men walk next to my cell, and crouch down in front of Guinevere's cell. Then there was once again the sound of metal colliding with metal and the gate to Guinevere's cell fell open. After a short moment I saw the Roman man walk by again with Guinevere, and that was when I snapped, "No don't take her, please don't take her" I cried out weakly, that was when both men stopped and one of the men who had a gently face with black curly hair and eyes that you could fall into, knelt down in front of my cell to peer inside. When he saw me, he looked shocked, but stood up again swung his sword back and hit the chains to the gate of my cell, the man reached in side and grabbed me with one hand around my shoulders and the other under my knees, my body was too weak to put up a fight, so I just let him grab me.

As we walked out of the chamber I managed to get a glimpse at the man who had been run through with the sword, and to my delight I saw that if fact it was one of the filthy Roman men who had tortured. We walked through the archway and into the corridors, up the stairs, to where the torture chambers were, I was nervous all the time that we would head straight back to the torture devices for more ridiculous questions, when to my surprise we walked right by them and passed through the door and into the bright sun light.

Normal POV –

I saw Lancelot come out of the shed first holding a frail looking woman in his arms with Cole black hair. She wore a tattered rag which I guess was supposed to resemble clothing. The rag did little to conceal her arms and legs, which gave away her physical state. The poor thing was little more then skin and bones, and yet I could still see the remains of the muscle which once made her a strong warrior. It was obvious by looking at her state that she had been starved to death.

I only had to look at the expression on Lancelot's face to see that whatever had happened down there in the shed was not good.

I moved Flecha away from the Roman and towards Lancelot and the woman, in order to get a better look at the woman, just as Arthur came out of the shed holding another girl also with bole black hair, who was in a similar state as the previous woman.

Arthur was followed by Dagonet who was carrying a small boy. The boy was in a better state then the two women were, yet the poor thing looked like he was frightened to death.

The fear in the boy's eyes was confirmed when he saw the Roman guards, and dug his way further into Dagonet's chest.

"Get me some water!" he ordered anyone who was around.

I got close enough the Lancelot and the woman to identify her race. However what I saw was not what I was expecting in the least. "She's a Sarmatian"

Lancelot looked up at me with such anger and hatred that I felt a cold shiver of fear crawl up my spine "I know she is my sister, Luthien" At the revilement I almost stood up in the saddle and pulled back Flecha's reins.

"I told her I would return, but never in my wildest dreams did I think that she would come in search for me, and then get caught by Romans.

Luthien's POV –

I vaguely heard the man kneeling by my side say that he was my brother and the revelation made me grab hold of his armor with weak hands. I had finally found my brother.

My gaze drifted over to where the gentle giant was tending Lucan. There was something about the man which drew me to him, his eyes and his voice were gentle, yet he looked like he had been to hell and back again. As I looked at him I knew that I would not be able to rest till I got to know him, and unraveled the mysteries which lay behind the man.

Normal POV -

I noticed Gawain emerge from the shed with the two men who were guarding the shed, he held them both by the scruff of the neck, and once he had them out of the shed he shoved them down onto the snow. Our eyes met and I saw the same look in his eyes that I had seen in Lancelot's eyes. Gawain looked at me with angry and sad eyes which told me everything that I needed to know. Gawain was the kind of man who could handle himself in the face of battle, but when it came to torture of innocents he was like a child who had been abandoned by his mother.

The woman who we all suspected to be the Roman's wife came over and gave Luthien some water. At first Luthien chocked on the water, but once she was over the initial shock of tasting fluids again, she swallowed the water easily.

Luthien pulled her head away from the water skin and buried her head in Lancelot's chest. Lancelot pulled her closer his chest and wrapped her in his cloak to shield her from the cold. The woman who had given Luthien water moved on to help the other woman who Arthur had carried out and was now tending to.

I moved away from Lancelot and Luthien in order to give them some privacy, and moved towards Gawain. I dismounted Flecha and stood next to Gawain, I reached over and took hold of his hand, as I looked up into his eyes I gave his hand a gentle but firm squeeze, giving him the support at least till we got out of here and I cold take care of him better.

"She's a Woad" I heard Tristan inform the rest of us. I saw Bors give a frustrated sigh as he leaned back into his saddle, I could read his thoughts in his eyes, and I knew that he was thinking that of all the things that could have happened on top of having to rescue Romans why on earth did this have to happen.

The Woad in Arthur's arms had barely enough time to swallow a few sips before the Roman came up to us in a rage "Stop what you are doing" Arthur stood up in order to

become level with the Roman "What is this madness?" he asked him in a commanding voice. "They are all pagans here" the Roman said as he gestured to all the people standing around us. "So are we" Galahad said, in reality, really when dealing with Romans Galahad is not the best person for the job, although the only thing which Galahad did was voice what we all felt. "They refuse to do the task God has set for them, they must die, as an example" that was the final straw which broke Arthur's back, as he exploded with rage "You mean they refuse to be your serfs?" he asked in a tone of voice that held no room for argument.

The Roman looked completely appalled and stumped that Arthur would even begin to disagree with his way of thinking; "You are a Roman, you understand, and you are a Christian" The Roman looked down on the woman who was kneeling down next to the Woad woman "You! You kept them alive" He moved forward and backhanded her across the face. I saw Lancelot moving to punch the Roman, but Arthur beat him to it.

The Roman fell hard to the ground. Arthur picked up his sword and took two strides forward till he was towering over the Roman, with Excalibur pointed at his throat.

"My lord" Two of the Roman guards moved forward with their hands on the hilts in attempt to protect their master. "No, no stop" The Roman ordered, and I must say that I was surprised to see that the Roman at least knew when to hold back.

The Roman looked up at Arthur and said in an incredibly thick Roman accent "When we get to the wall you will be punished for this hearsay" As a response Arthur knelt down, grabbed the roman by the front of his cloak, hoisting him up a bit off of the ground and said in a threatening voice "Perhaps I should kill you now and seal my fate".

Out of nowhere one of the scrawny shed guards spoke up "I was willing to die with them, yes, to lead them to their rightful place, it is God's wish that these sinners be sacrificed, only then can their souls be saved" I saw Lancelot stiffen at the remark, and Arthur got up and looked at the man "Then I shall grant him his wish" I was utterly shocked to see that the Roman was actually relieved. I swear that I will never understand these Romans.

"Wall them back up" I wiped my head around to look at Arthur in horror. That was not possible. Walling them up costed time; time which we did not have, the Saxons were on our tail. "Arthur, we don't have time" I told him pleadingly. Arthur seemed not to hear me, when Arthur did not react to my plea Tristan leaned over his horses and called his name, as he tried to reason with our commander and friend. "I SAID WALL THEM UP!!" Arthur yelled as he lost his temper.

I ran my hand through my hair and while sighing in frustration I turned around in a circle. "Don't you see it is the will of God that these sinners be sacrificed" the smelly Roman said, as the young farmer boy who had just recently been placed under Arthur's command, crashed into him and forced him back into the shed, More villagers came running to force the Romans workers, who were so keen on seeing other people suffer, back into the shed.

Gawain stormed off angry and frustrated back to where Adrian stood; he hoisted him self back into the saddle and with a cry rode off.

I walked over to where Lancelot and Luthien lay on the ground. "Come on, let's get her into a cart. Lancelot nodded, as he picked Luthien up and carried her to where the carts were.

I climbed into a cart which the villagers had prepared. I smiled slightly as I saw that they had placed furs in the back of the cart. I moved forward and took one of the thicker furs and placed it on the floor of the cart, near the side, next to the wall of the cart.

Lancelot placed Luthien down on the fur, and reached for a lighter fur, which he placed over Luthien. He sat down next to her and began to keep his vigil.

I moved out of the wagon, and saw that both Flecha and Tempest waiting out side the cart. I smiled at them both and moved to reach for Tempest's reins. The powerful stallion made his way to shy away from me, but with a few soothing words he calmed down and allowed me to lead him to the side of the cart where I could tie him to a hook on the cart.

I moved over to Flecha, clapped him once on the shoulder in greeting, took hold of his mane, and hoisted myself up into the saddle. "Thank you boy" I looked to see Arthur already on Feonaro waiting for the signal that all was ready.

I checked to see that everyone was with us. When I was sure that everyone was ready I gave the signal to move forward.


	16. Chapter 16

The caravan was slow, as we moved out of the estate and up the mountains. I rode next to Tristan who as usual was looking to his surroundings. His hawk sat perched on his arm; every now and then she would wobble and flap her wings, trying to keep her balance.

"What do you think?" I asked him as I looked at him. He did not look at me but kept surveying his surroundings as he said, "We had little time as it was, now we have even less, it seems we will have a glorious death before we had expected" he said as he finally looked at me.

"Tristan think positive, how many times have we made it out of a loosing battle?" I asked him as I kept my eyes on him, giving Flecha free reigns and allowed him to find his own way through the forest. Flecha took his head gladly and swayed it back and forth to get more reach. Tristan looked at me and said with a hint of a grin "countless" "exactly!" I exclaimed as I gave him a friendly nudge with my elbow.

Tristan gave a light chuckle which was a rare sight indeed, and because of that I could do nothing more then giggle along with him. "Tristan! Merenwen!" we heard Arthur call. We both new that that was our queue to go scouting, I looked into Tristan's eyes, and silently asked him if he was ready, he looked back at me and with a grin kicked his horse forward, while letting his bird fly, and in an instant we were off.

I led Flecha in a zigzag around the different wagons and trees. The feeling of the wind blowing through my hair was something that I was never going to get enough of. I looked behind me to see that Tristan was right behind me. I shook my head and grinned, no matter how relaxed the situation was Tristan was the one knight who would never let down his guard completely.

Tristan brought Indian right up next to me, and together we galloped passed Arthur and Lancelot who were in a heated argument. We continued down the path, until we reached a fork in the rode, where we then each took a separate road.

Up ahead I saw that there was a large tree that had fallen over and was now blocking the road, immediately I knew that there was no way that the caravan could take this way, yet there was no way in which I could allow this chance to pass. I tightened my hold on the reins and sank further into the saddle. Flecha understood what I was asking from him and pulled his head up. I felt Flecha's muscles bunch up as he prepared to leap over the log.

As we reached the log, I felt Flecha's front legs bunch up under him as he kicked off with his hind legs. I lent forward over Flecha's shoulders and neck as we soared above the trunk. It only lasted a few seconds before we hit the ground once again, but that time that we had in the air was enough. I leaned down and stroked Flecha's shoulders, as a thank you. Flecha nickered and bobbed his head, as we continued through the forest and into the distance.


	17. Chapter 17

- Luthium –

I slowly woke up, to find that I was no longer in the dark and damp cell of the dungeon, while breathing in the smell of rotting flesh. Instead I was lying in the corner of a wagon, wrapped up in warm furs, breathing in the fresh cold air that was allowed to pass in and through the walls of the wagon.

I pulled the furs tighter around me, as I further into the furs, in attempt to block everything out, and just forget. Imagining that I was back in Sarmatia, I closed my eyes and breathed in the British air, just as I was beginning to drift off into a peaceful sleep, I felt someone kneel down next to me and gently pry the furs from my hands.

Out of reflex my eyes shot open and I began to struggle. A pair of strong hands grabbed hold of me and pinned me down to the floor of the cart. "Lay still" came a gentle yet strong male voice. I looked up to see the giant kneeling over me.

I slowly ripped my eyes off of his and spared a glance over to where Lucan was laying. I saw that the roman woman was watching over him, while he slept.

I returned my focus to the giant who was waiting for my consent to remove the furs. I slowly slackened my grip on the furs, allowing the man to carefully pull them down.

He began to inspect me for any signs of wounds, external and internal. As he reached my stomach I flinched and tried to pull away from him, but he kept a gentle yet firm hold on me. "I need to lift your tunic to inspect the extent of your injuries" he said as he slowly began to lift the edge of my tunic.

I winced as he ever so carefully lifted the tunic over the injuries on my stomach. As my injuries were removed I noticed that his expression went from tender to hard, as he saw the damage that the Romans had inflicted upon my skin.

The man gave my arm a reassuring rub and turned away to reach for something that was lying behind him.

As he turned around again I saw that he was carrying a container of some sort. I suppose that the confusion and weariness showed in my eyes, because the man gave a small smile and said "it is a salve it will sooth and disinfect the injuries" I slowly nodded and grabbed hold of the furs beneath me as an anchor for the pain that was sure to come.

Slowly gently he began to apply the salve to the wounds on my stomach, and although he was being gentle and careful, it still stung.

The treatment only took a few minutes but it seemed like it had taken far longer. Once he was finished he gently lowered my tunic back down and moved over to inspect Guinevere, who was giving him a look of mistrust.

He felt her forehead only to find that it was ablaze with fever. The sarmatian moved over to where Lucan was lying in order to pick up a bowl of water that was lying at the boy's side with a cloth. Once he retrieved the bowl and towel he moved back to Guinevere's side. He dunked the cloth under the water, wringed the cloth and gently placed it on Guinevere's forehead.

All the while Guinevere gave the man a look of caution. The sarmatian, gave Guinevere a gentle and reassuring squeeze on her upper arm and moved back to his vigil over Lucan.

I heard the commotion coming from the entrance of the cart; I lifted my head up to see the Roman commander and my brother come in. I watched as my brother came over to me and kneeled down next to me, "How are you?" he asked "Better" I said as I looked up into his eyes. I still had difficulty rasping the fact that after all that I had been through that I was finally reunited with my brother.

"Luthien, you need to tell me what happened" Lancelot said as he gently caressed my arms.

I looked up at him and threw myself into his arms and just sob into his chest "Oh Lancelot I thought that I would never find you, I left Sarmatia six month ago, it took me three month to get to Britain, by the time that I got to Britain I found an inn at the south of the wall, I was so tired that I did not stop to think whether it was Roman or not. I walked in and the people were so nice they offered me food and water, there was no way that I could have known that the food had been drugged"

I grabbed hold of his armor in an attempt to get closer to him where I knew it was safe. "The next day I woke up to find myself in a cart with men, women and children shackled, I tried to move my hands and feet but I realized that I was shackled as well. I was brought to a slave market, I could not possibly tell you where the slave market was, due to the fact that I was passing through consciousness and unconsciousness. I was bought by _Marius_" Just the name of that man made me cringe and I began to tremble at the knowledge of what I had to say next. "One night I was busy finishing cleaning the floor when a man came and took me into large rooms, I only noticed later that the rooms belonged to _Marius_. It did not take long before I realized what he had intended to do."

I paused for a moment and cowered further into Lancelot's arms, I felt tears begin to prickle my eyes. "He forced me onto the bed, and he made it clear to me that he expected me to 'warm his bed'" I felt Lancelot's arms tighten around me in protection, I looked up at his face and saw that there was a dark look in his eyes, but I knew I had to continue. "I struggled and luckily I found a vase that was near the bed, I grabbed it and smashed it over _Marius' _head, he crumbled up in pain and I ran. Unfortunately I did not get far before the guards caught me and threw me into the dungeon, they tortured me as a punishment for denying the 'spokes men for **God**', they then threw me into the dungeon to rot, and that was how you found me"

I buried my head in his chest and wept; now that this whole ordeal was over I felt like I could finally breathe again, Lancelot stayed there comforting me. After what seemed like hours I finally began relaxing and my eyes became heave. I took one last look at my brother and fell asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Normal POV (point of view)

A

s I rode around a bend I was met with a Saxon scout who jumped out of the forest and charged towards us. I barely had enough time to bring out my sword before the scout crashed into us, causing Flecha to crash to the ground with a scream.

I struggled to get back to my feet. Once I managed to stand I was greeted with a sword headed for my neck. I brought my leg up and kicked him in the gut successfully pushing him away from me.

The Saxon regained his bearings quickly and came towards me once again, only this time he did not see as I positioned my sword in his path. He never once stopped to see what I was doing and my sword drove straight through his stomach. I waited until the Saxon fell to the ground and watched as life left his eyes.

I pulled out a cloth and wiped my sword clean from the Saxon's blood.

I turned around in search Flecha and found him grazing not too far away. I gave a soft whistle and watched him pick up his head with a small jerk. He saw me and immediately trotted over to me with a soft cry, when he reached me he bobbed his head. I lifted my hand up and offered it to him. Flecha moved an inch closer to me and gently placed his muzzle against my hand, I gently stoked his neck and moved to his side to get in the saddle once again.

I grabbed Flecha's mane and was about to swing myself onto Flecha's back when out of nowhere Mirima landed on Flecha's saddle in a storm of fluttering feathers.

"Mirima! Hello, nice surprise to see you here" I greeted her.

Mirima gave a few cries in response. I already knew that she would not be here unless Tristan was looking for me. "Alright Mirima, take me to Tristan" Mirima hawked once and flew off. I swung myself into the saddle, and urged Flecha to follow Mirima who was circling overhead.

Mirima saw me coming and flew off through the darkness of the trees, "Flecha, I need you to find your own way and follow Mirima" I told him as I could no longer see properly, I heard fleche snicker and I let him take charge.

It did not take long before we emerged from the darkness and were led to a clearing where I was met by Tristan. Our eyes met and he nodded in greeting, I gave him a small wave and moved Flecha next to Indian.

"The south is blocked not only by a tree log, but also by Saxons" I told him.

"There is a free passage north east, that is our only hope" I nodded.

We both began walking the horses in the direction of the caravan. I was startled out of our silence ride when out of nowhere Tristan grabbed hold of my arm, causing me to turn towards him suddenly.

"What happened?" he asked, as I looked at him I saw that his expression was one of concern.

"What?" I followed his gaze in confusion only to find that there was a relatively large gash on my upper arm. "oh that" I said as I studied it closer. I took my gaze off the gash and focused back on Tristan.

"I was attacked by a Saxon scout but I took care of him" Tristan nodded in response and told me to let Dagonet take a look at it when we got back, I nodded and we continued to ride.

It was not too long after that we arrived back to the caravan. Tristan and I nodded to each other in greeting and head out own way. As I made my way to the wagon where Dagonet was located, I came up next to Gawain.

"Hello love" he said as he caught sight of me, I brought Flecha right up next to Adrian. Once Flecha and Adrian were done bickering at each other, I leaned over and gave Gawain a passionate kiss. I heard him groan as he took his left hand off Adrian's reigns and began caressing my arm. As he ran his hand over my wound I winced and he immidietly pulled away.

"What is wrong?" he asked as he looked down at me.

I placed my hand near to wound and gently spread the material of my tunic to show him the angry gash. I heard him take a sharp breath. He moved his hand gently over the wound as if to inspect it.

"It looks deep you should let Dagonet look at it" he told me.

"I know I was headed there but then I saw you and had to stop and say hi" I told him.

Gawain leaned over and gave me a quick peck on the lips, he pulled back only cm and looked into my eyes "Hi" he said in a husky voice.

"Hi" I said with a smile, he returned it and gave Flecha a slight smack on his rear. Flecha gave a protest kick and moved forward. I urged him forward until we got to the wagon where Dagonet was. I jumped off and tied his reigns to the wagon.


	19. Chapter 19

I

Brought Flecha right up next to the cart where Dag was tending to the prisoners who had been found in Marius' dungeon.

"Stop here boy" I said. Flecha bobbed his head and pranced a bit around in place. He stood close enough to the cart that it was possible to grab hold of the wooden bars supporting its roof, I gave Flecha a thank you clap on his neck and pulled my weight from the saddle I hoisted myself onto the cart. "Stay here, I will be back soon" I told him as I moved to the opening of the wagon, where I found the Woad woman that Arthur had rescued from the dungeon. I gave her a quick nod in greeting and made my way past her, into the carriage.

As I stepped into the cart I saw Dag pick up his head in order to see who was coming. He saw me and gave a slight smile in greeting.

"Dag, when you have a moment could you take a look at my arm?"

He looked at me with kind eyes and said "Of course."

I smiled and nodded to say thank you. As I began to move to the back of the cart I realized that there was an invisible pressure on my skin, the kind of pressure as when someone has their eyes locked upon you. As I looked around to try and identify the source of the pressure, I was met with the piercing gaze of Luthien, Lancelot's sister. I gave her a slight smile and made my way over to her. Leaning my back against the back wall of the cart, I slid down to be sitting next to her.

"How did you join my brother and the other knights?" Luthien asked, after a moment of silence.

"When the Romans came to Sarmatia to collect the new generation of Sarmatian sons, I disguised myself as a boy to spare my brother's life. He had been severely burn in a fire some time before. The Romans did not notice that I was a girl, and by the time they did realize they did want to punish me by death – but the bond with the other knights and myself had already formed: they protected me and there was nothing that the Romans could do"

"You are so lucky," Luthien said as she looked out of the cart: "I learned to fight shortly after Lancelot left, a sword master of my tribe named Beriadan taught me, because I begged him to." Luthien looked back at me, "My home got into a conflict with a neighboring tribe. At the time I was capable of fighting but my father forbade me to go with the warriors, and I was forced to flee into the bushes and watch my entire family die." By now tears were falling down her face. "When the fight was finally over I found my horse, Anion, and took off to Britain, however, when I finally got here I stopped at an inn where I was drugged and taken to the estate of Marius, where you found me."

I had stayed silent while she told me her story: Once she was finished I responded, "Well, you are safe now, and in good hands. Besides, I do believe that our gentle knight/healer has taken a liking to you." I added with a hint of teasing in my voice.

To say that I wasn't surprised when I saw the slight blush creep up her face would have been a lie, but I was glad that it did appear. Dag deserved to have an admirer such as Luthien. Just then I saw Dag get up from his position next to the boy and make his way over to us.

"Ok then, let's take a look at your arm" he said as he kneeled down in front of me. I took off my cloak, vest and tunic and was left with a black undershirt. He took my arm as I offered it to him so that he could get a look. "It is not deep, with some ointment and bandages you should be ready to go". Dag got up and moved to his bag of supplies, pulling out a sack and some bandages. He returned to where we were.

As he opened the sack I saw that there was a yellow paste. Dag dipped his hand into it and applied it to my cut.

As the paste touched my arm I winced at the burn which shot up through my arm.

"Stay still, I know it stings but it will keep the cut from getting infected," he said, never once lifting his head up to gauge my reaction. I nodded in response and stayed still as he wound the bandages around my arm.

Once it was done I nodded in gratitude and moved to get up and leave the cart. Just before I was able to leave, I turned around and with steady strides came to crouch down beside Luthien and whispered in her ear I said, "His name is Dagonet" She looked at me sharply and gave a soft smile and a grateful nod of her head. I began making my way out of the cart. Before I left I gave Dag a grateful pat on the shoulder.


	20. Chapter 20

I

went back outside where I found Flecha waiting for me, as I had asked him to.

"Hello there," I greeted him as I came up to his side.

He arched his neck to nibble at my hand in greeting giving a soft snort; with my other hand I clapped him on his shoulder. Taking hold of his Whitlock I pulled myself up into the saddle, just in time to see Arthur and Lancelot come galloping by.

Urging Flecha forward, I came up next to them and together we made our way over to where Tristan was with Indian and Mirima.

"Tristan, Merenwen, what is the report on your scouting?" Arthur asked, while he kept looking straight out into the dark forest.

"There is a fallen tree blocking the road to the south east not too far ahead. The Saxons have also sent their own scouts out. I had the pleasure meeting one of them," I informed Arthur, the last part having been said sarcastically.

"The only way out is to the south west, this means that we need to change our route," Tristan said, finishing the report.

"If we have to turn the entire caravan around we could be here well into the night, which would slow us down even more. Arthur, I told you that this was a bad idea!" Lancelot shouted, as his temper got the better of him. His outbursts caused a few of the villagers passing by to turn their heads.

"Relax, Lancelot, Tristan found a trail which turns south west not too far away from here," I told him, using the information which Tristan had given me earlier.

"Very well, we'll sleep here, take shelter in those trees. Tristan!" Arthur ordered.

Tristan nodded in reply and left, on yet another scouting mission.

The rest of us began to scatter in different directions around the caravan to pass the message on about sleeping in the forest.

It did not take to long before everyone got the message and we were all making our way over the plains and into the forest, which would hopefully provide us some shelter for the night and make it difficult for Saxon scouts to find us.

I spotted Gawain riding side by side with Galahad not too far ahead. Urging Flecha forward, I came besides them. "Hellllooo!" I said with a funny voice. They both turned their heads to look at me, with a kind smile on their faces.

"Hello, Mer," Galahad greeted.

"How is your arm?" I heard Gawain ask.

"Alright, Dag put a salve on it and wrapped it up in bandages, so it feels better," I told him. Galahad, at hearing this, picked up a bit more interest.

"What happened to it?" he asked.

"I was attacked by a Saxon while scouting, he caught me off guard and sliced me in the arm. The wound is not deep, but still it had to be taken care of," I told him as I glanced down at my now bandaged arm.

"You know, I am beginning to see Bors' point, and I really hope that Arthur knows what he is doing," Gawain said as the smile on his face faded.

"Cheer up, Arthur cares for us, we have been through so much! He would not leave us in stake," I told him.

The ride went on in silence as we both kept out eyes on the ever closer dark forest. As we moved through the dense wood, we all of a sudden heard Arthur's commanding voice through the air: "We camp here, spread out, but stay close together," he commanded as we moved out to our own area. Gawain and I made our way over to a small clearing near a bush on the other side of camp.

Swinging myself out of the saddle, I grabbed for my sleeping mat and turned around to see Gawain already placing his mat on the floor a meter away from the bush; As soon as I had placed my mat next to his I went back to unsaddling Flecha and taking his head gear off; With a gentle clap to his shoulder I sent him on his way: as we were now so close to the Saxons I felt it better that he be free should there be an ambush, so he could get away.

As soon as we were done we made our way to where the others were setting up a fire, waiting for Tristan to return from his scouting, and for Galahad who had gone out hunting for something to eat…


	21. Chapter 21

Luthien's P.O.V

The cart came to a stop jerking me out of my light sleep. Looking out of the cart I noticed that we had arrived at a place in the middle of the forest.

I felt a large warm hand on my forehead. Turning to see who it was I noticed the knight Dagonet standing over me, checking how my fever was doing.

"You're fever has broken. There is a bath being drawn for Guinevere: if you wish you may also bathe," he told me.

"Yes please," I replied as I tried to get up. He must have seen that I was struggling, for he took hold of my arm and wrapped a large arm around my midriff, he allowed me to lean on him, as we slowly made our way over to where Guinevere was bathing.

Dagonet knocked on the side of the wagon and waited for some kind of response. It was not long before one of the maids to come into view. When she saw me she came to my other side and took hold of my other arm, wrapping it around her neck, she took hold of my waist. Slowly I shifted my weight from Dagonet to the maid.

Before I let go completely of Dagonet I turned to him and said: "Thank you, Dagonet, for everything."

He replied with a nod and a warm smile. As I let go of him and slowly and carefully walked up into to wagon, I faintly heard him say: "Please call me Dag."

I turned around to look at him but he was already walking away.

When we entered the wagon I noticed that there was already a warm bath drawn for me. With the help of the maid I slowly and painfully managed to get out of the old, dirty rags which I had worn while in the cells. I carefully stepped into the bath and lowered myself into the water. The warm water lapped at my wounds with a sting that made me cringe, yet once I was settled into the warm water the sting slowly began to change into a dull throb and finally disappeared completely to be replaced by a pleasant feeling.

As the Roman maid passed a sponge over my shoulder blades, I pulled my hair out off the way to grant her better access. I looked out of the semi-see through drape, only to see Dagonet, outside, stop and look at me. As our eyes met, I felt a strange sensation, which I could not place, pass through me. Dagonet was the first one to break eye contact as he quickly shook his head and continued walking.

There was something about Dagonet which intrigued me: he was rough yet at the same time so warm and gentle. It was at this point I realized that I was attracted to him, and I resolved to learn as much as I could about him.

**A/N: Sorry for such a short chapter, hopefully the next one will be longer**


	22. Chapter 22

I

woke up the next day to the warm smell of leather, horse and spices. Savoring the warm feel which surrounded me, I snuggled further into my strong yet accommodating pillow; I was reluctant to snap out of my sleep. That was at least until my pillow moved.

My eyes snapped open to come to face with Gawain's chest. Slowly looking up to his face I noticed that he was still sleeping lightly. I moved my hand higher up his chest, gently stroking it I gazed up at his face, and just enjoyed this rare and peaceful moment, wishing that it could last forever. However, it was not meant to be.

"Seize him!" I heard someone yell; Not a minute later, I heard Dag struggling. I was apparently not the only one who heard the commotion, because Gawain's eyes snapped open he shoved my hand away. We both leapt to our feet, and made our way to Adrian and Flecha.

Luthien's P.O.V -

I woke up to the sound of Dag yelling and struggling for his life. Not wasting a minute, I got up and made my way over to see what was happening. I was met with a heart-stopping sight: there was the man that had been so kind to me, facing potential death with four Roman soldiers surrounding him.

Without thinking I launched myself onto on of the Romans' backs and began strangling him, anything to be able to distract them from the man whom I had come to love.

As I tried to distract them from Dag, I was careless and felt the man I was strangling grab hold of my neck and throw me over his head.

The pain that shot through my neck was unbearable. I looked up to the Roman to see him raising his sword ready to slice me into shish kebab. However, before the sword could come down, I saw a dagger lodge into his neck, and with a gurgling sound he fell back dead. I looked around for the source of the dagger and saw Dag hunched over in a throwing position.

Our eyes met and I saw concern in his eyes and something else that could easily be mistaken for love. I was ripped from my thoughts when the fat Roman commanded his men to kill Dagonet. "NOOO!!" I screamed seeing the arrows notched in the Romans' bows. Hauling myself to my feet I threw myself in front of Dagonet, attempting to shield him from harm.

Just before the fat Roman could utter another command there was an arrow, flying through the air in another direction, and lodging itself in the fat Roman's chest. Both me and Dag looked to the source of the arrow and saw Guinevere; She was soon followed by my brother, who looked at us with an expression I could not place.

Normal P.O.V -

As Gawain, Galahad and I rode up to the scene, we were met by the sight of Lucan clinging onto Dag's leg and Luthien standing in front of Dag with her arms wrapped around him, it was both a confusing and impressive sight.

Before I had the time to process what I was seeing, we heard Bors charging out of the forest with a battle cry and coming right up next to the Romans. "Do we have a problem?" he asked, urging Black Bird into the Romans in order to emphasize his point.

At that point Arthur also came out of the bushes with his sword drawn.

"You have a choice: you either help or you die," he stated in a commanding voice that left no room for argument.

"Drop your weapons!" one of the Romans, one who had a brain, commanded.

"YEAH!!" shouted Dagonet as he leaned forward in a threatening way, causing Luthien to stumble forward a bit.

When the Romans hesitated to follow their leader's command he spoke again. "DO IT!!" he yelled.

All at once they threw down their weapons and stepped back.

Luthien's P.O.V –

As the soldiers put down their weapons, I slowly unwrapped my arms from around Dag and stepped away from him.

I heard a horse coming our way and looked up, to see the Scout coming back with a cross bow.

"How many did you kill?" Bors asked.

"Four," replied the scout.

"Not a bad start to the day," Bors replied with a laugh.

The scout threw the armor piercing at Arthur's feet. "Armor piercing; they're close, we have no time," he informed him.

"Tristan, You ride ahead," Arthur commanded him, who before leaving, spared a glance at me, then turned around and left.

"Everyone else, pack your things and move out!" Arthur instructed.

I felt two strong arms on my shoulder, and looked up to see Dag, "Come on, lets get you back to the wagon," he said, picking Lucan up. We began making our way back to the wagon: Once we were there, he lay Lucan down on the rugs. I sat down by the entrance, from where I watched him get on his horse and ride ahead in front of the caravan.


	23. Chapter 23

Luthien's POV –

I had decided that I had had enough of the wagon and stepped out to walk next to the caravan, as we made our way through the frozen valley.

As we moved on I could hear hoof beats coming up close behind me, and I looked up in time to see Dagonet riding up on his horse.

"Why did you do that?" he asked as he brought the horse down to a walk beside me.

"Why did I do what?" I asked in return. I was not quite sure whether I was stalling or if I truly did not know what he was talking about.

"Why did you attack the Romans the way that you did, and why did you shield me?" he inquired. If he knew that I knew what he was talking about, he was not showing it.

"No one who places the needs of others before his own deserves to die," I told him as I looked into his eyes. He seemed to be content with the answer and looked straight ahead, until he came up with something else to say.

"How is your side?" he asked as he shifted his gaze to my stomach.

"It is better, it only hurts when I touch it," I told him as I offered him a small smile.

Behind us I could hear the faint sound of hoof beats coming closer and closer, and before long Merenwen rode up beside us.

"There is a problem up ahead; Arthur asked for us to meet him by the lake," she said. I saw Dag nod in understanding and at once the two of them had urged their horses into a fast gallop and moved by the caravan, dodging people as they rode.


	24. Chapter 24

As we approached the lake I could see that Arthur and Tristan were already there, along with all the others.

I brought Flecha down to a slow canter and finally to a halt next to Tristan.

"Is there any other way?" Arthur asked Tristan.

"No; we have to cross the ice," Tristan replied.

"Get them out of the carriages, tell them to spread out!" Arthur ordered.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jols ride off to pass Arthur's message on.

"Wait!" I cried.

Jols reined in his horse sharply and brought him around to face us. At the same time I saw all the others also turn their heads to hear what I had to say.

"Could we not move around the lake at the edges?" I pointed at the sides of the lake. "There is a chance that there is firm ground." However, before anyone truly had a chance to take in my suggestion, I watched as Tristan shook his head no.

"You're right, there is firm ground, but only enough for us to pass: the caravan would plunge into the frozen lake," he informed us. I nodded in submission and continued to look ahead over the frozen lake as I heard Jols galloping to the caravan to give on the message for them to spread out.

It was not until I felt a hand on my leg that I snapped out of my trance and noticed that Gawain was gently rubbing my leg, and looking up at me from the ground, silently telling me that we had to move on. I nodded in agreement and slowly slid off Flecha.

We waited only for a short while until the caravan arrived at the ice and we could slowly and carefully make our way across the lake.

I brought Flecha to the left of Arthur in an attempt to try and even out the weight on the ice. However we only managed to get half way across the lake before it started to crack under the weight of the caravan. Horses began to neigh and squirm were they stood. I pulled Flecha to a sharp halt when I felt the ice crack under us, and with a sharp neigh, he skidded on the ice, bringing his hind hooves under him and prancing with his front hooves as he tried to follow my lead.

However, when we finally brought the horses under control and the noise from the cracking ice subsided another noise was heard, just as terrifying as the first one. The strong sound of the Saxon drums could be heard clearly from around the mountains.

We saw as Arthur turned around in order to be able to address all of us.

"Knights!"

"Well, I'm tired of running," Bors said as he looked around at all of us to gauge our reactions. "And these Saxons are so close behind my ass is hurting." He said as he made his way forward towards Arthur.

"Never liked looking over my shoulder anyway," Tristan said as he did exactly that in order to emphasize his point, and in response I noticed Dag smiling in agreement.

"Be a pleasure to put an end to this racket"

I looked to Gawain as he said this, giving him a warm smile in support.

I suppose Arthur noticed because he looked to me next to ask my opinion of the matter.

"I'm tired of appeasing the Saxons" I told him as I looked square in his eyes.

"Finally get a look at these bastards" Galahad said.

Dear sweet Galahad, I knew that although he said this with such confidence that it was the last thing that he really wanted to do.

"Here, now," Dag said as he followed Bors in walking confidently towards Arthur.

Lancelot on the other hand had nothing to say other then nod his head in submission for there was no way in which he could go against seven knights.

"Jols!" Arthur ordered.

"You two take the horses!" Jols told two of the Roman guards who had earlier tried to kill Dag and Lucan. Both men approached us and took the horses from us as we made our way to the pack horse which was being led by Jols in order to get the weapons which we would need.

"Ganis, I need you to lead the people," Arthur said as he placed his arm around the boy. "The main Saxon army is inland, so if you track the coast line until you are well south of the wall, you'll be safe"

"But you're eight against two hundred" the boy protested as he made an attempt to be able to stay and fight.

"nine," Guinevere said as she approached the two men.

"ten," came another voice. This time everyone looked up in shock to see Luthien stepping down from the wagon. "You could use two more bows," she told them when we would not look away.

I in turn smiled and nodded at them.

"I'd rather stay and fight" Ganis said after he turned his eyes away from Guinevere and Luthien.

"You'll get your chance soon enough," Arthur said in return, before he turned to the Roman guards and said, in a voice that left no room for argument: "This man is now your captain, you do as he says, am I understood?"

"Yes, sir!" the two Romans said in unison.

"Go, go!" Arthur told Ganis when he still tried to remain behind.

I moved over to where Guinevere and Luthien were preparing the bows. "Are you two sure that this is what you want to do? There is still a chance to go with Ganis" I told them.

Luthien looked up at me with firm eyes and spoke: "Merenwen, you fight to protect your brother and father back home. You also fight to keep Gawain safe. I no longer have a family in Sarmatia. However I do have my brother, and I also fight to keep Dag safe."

I held her gaze for a while and understood her passion for I too felt it. Slowly I smiled and nodded, returning to the work at hand.

"Luthien, what do you think you are doing?" I heard Lancelot speak in a harsh voice as he grabbed her shoulders roughly.

"What does it look like I am doing, I am preparing for the fight to come," she replied.

"You can't do this! You are a woman, and my sister," he told her as he looked at her with adoration and worry.

"Do not give me that! Merenwen is a woman and she fights on equal ground with you; so does Guinevere. So why should I not be able to?" she asked him with such a fire in her eyes.

" I cannot loose you!" he told her as he embraced her tightly.

Luthien quickly pulled herself from his embrace and, looking straight in to his eyes, said: "Lancelot, I will not perish on this day." With that Lancelot nodded and made his way back to preparing the bow and arrows.

Once the bows were prepared we all moved to stand in a row next to each other. I went to stand between Gawain and Arthur and Luthien stood in between Dag and Bors.

I looked to Gawain, who gave me a warm smile. "You alright?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," and with that I leaned up towards him and gave him a quick kiss on the lips; "Don't get yourself killed," I whispered to him

"you, too," he responded and we moved back to our positions.

It was not a moment later that we saw an army of Saxons emerge from behind the mountains which we had cleared a short while ago. The sound of the drums was now so intense. That it felt like my very heart would rip out of my chest and flee in fear.

It was only when I heard Arthur ordering us to hold until he gave the command, that I was brought out of my state of fear and reminded that this situation would require every ounce of concentration if I wished to emerge alive.

"You looked frightened," I heard Lancelot say from the other side of Arthur, and in curiosity I looked to see who he was talking to. For I knew that he would never say such a thing to one of the men, and Luthien was standing at the opposite side. To my amusement I noticed that he was talking to Guinevere. "There are a large number of lonely men out there"

Although I could not see Guinevere's expression, her next words were priceless: "Don't worry. I won't let them rape you." At this comment I allowed myself a small smile before returning my attention to the battle which lay ahead.

Eventually we saw as the army of Saxons come to a halt at the other side of the lake, and one of the Saxon archers stepped forward and released a single arrow that barely even made it half way across the ice.

"I believe they are waiting for an invitation," Arthur said as he looked upon the pitiful skills which these Saxons possessed with archery. "Bors! Tristan!" he ordered.

Guinevere apparently thought that the achievement of the Saxon archer was very good and said that they were far out of range.

Arthur merely ignored her and watched as Tristan fired three arrows in one go and Bors two. The rest of us stood back and watched as all five arrows found their targets in 5 different Saxons.

The response which the Saxon leader had to this was to order his troops to advance forward onto the ice, and this was also our cue to notch arrows into our bows and prepare to release them.

"Aim for the flanks, make them cluster!' Arthur ordered.

As I pulled back the bow string everything around me faded; I honed in on one of the Saxons positioned to the far left flank of the Saxon army.


	25. Chapter 25

We fired at the wings of the ranks, as Arthur had ordered us, and as more and more Saxons fell, causing the rest of them to cl

We fired at the wings of the ranks, as Arthur had ordered us, and as more and more Saxons fell, causing the rest of them to cluster together, applying more weight to the ice, the plan appeared to work. Yet this did not help the fact that we were faced with an ever-advancing army.

However, we all knew better then to expect that it was going to be this easy. And it was only moments later that we realized exactly that.

The Saxons clustered just as expected, however what we did not expect was that the ice appeared to be sustaining the weight.

As I continued to fire I could hear from the other side that the Saxon leaders were giving orders to their men to hold the ranks. One could only hope that the men would not oblige.

The more we fired the more they clustered and the more the leader got angry with them. And yet the ice showed no sign of giving way.

And then it came

"It's not going to break," Arthur said as he bent down to lay down the bow and to pick up Excalibur. "Back! Fall back! Prepare for combat!"

At these words, we all dropped our bows and picked up the swords that had been laid out before us, by Jols before he had left with the others. We moved a few places back, firmly planting our feet on the ice and preparing for the collision that was sure to come.

I looked to Gawain and saw that he had taken up a club, rather than the sword. He took a few paces back and looked to me, in order to make sure that I was still there. I gave him a small smile of reassurance, and that was when I saw it.

I looked to Dagonet and saw the look on his face; I knew instantly that he was planning something. I also knew that what ever it was he was not planning to survive it.

I wasted no time. Taking two quick steps to Gawain, I reached up and planted a hard kiss on his lips.

Breaking the kiss as quickly as I had given it, I leaned up and whispered in his ear, "I love you, please forgive me."

I moved quickly moved forward before anyone could stop me and took up a shield, just as Dag lay down his sword and took up his axe. As he, with a battle cry, ran out on the field, I followed him close on his heels.

"MERENWEN!!" I heard Gawain scream. Then came something that I had not expected. It was Lancelot screaming a name as well, however it was not my name, but the name of his sister, Luthien. I looked over and saw that she had also followed us out onto the ice.

Dagonet quickly reached the centre of the lake and began to hack away at the ice. Luthien and I both reached him not to long after that, and immediately used both shields to protect him from the incoming arrows.

"What are you two doing? Get back!" he told us as he tried to push us away, and as he did we both fell back, which resulted in Dagonet receiving an arrow to his shoulder and falling himself, just missing us both.

"Dag! Come on, get up! You have to finish this: we will shield you. DAG!" I yelled at him as I pulled him up onto his feet and once again shielded him from any incoming arrows.

After three hits the ice finally broke, and although no more arrows found their target in his body, the blood loss from the first hit, had taken its toll on Dagonet, and when the ice began to break all around us, he remained still. Luthien and I both tried to pull him back to the safety of the others but the dead weight of Dag was too much and he fell forward. I used all my weight to pull him back, and to keep him from falling into the water, but it was no use.

I felt an incredible pull in my arm as he fell forward, pulling Luthien and with him.

I watched in horror as Luthien fell into the water after him. I somehow managed to stay on land and saw that Gawain had grabbed me around the waist as Bors, Lancelot and Arthur worked on getting him them out of the water.

"Do not let go of him!" Gawain shouted from behind me. I nodded and held on with all my strength.

It seemed like an age before they had gotten them out.

Once they were both back on the ice, I mustered all my strength to get up, grab a shield and block any arrows as the men took Luthien and Dagonet back to the safety of the others.

By now however the waves of arrows coming from the Saxons were less as they struggled to stay on the ice. It was clear that Dagonet's idea had been the right one, but at what price?

When we were back in the safety of the group, I let my guard down, and felt my legs give way.

"MERENWEN!!" I heard Gawain yell for the second time as he caught me before I hit the hard ice. I looked up into his face to see him looking down at me in concern before I felt darkness take hold of me.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

I felt warm and safe. I felt like nothing in the world could harm me. As I emerged slowly from the haze of sleep I began to realize other things, such as that the reason that I felt warm was that I was wrapped in a cloak which I did not recognize as my own, I did not care: after feeling cold and miserable, I welcomed the warmth that the cloak provided.

As I leaned further into its warmth, I began to take in the scent which it gave off, and found that it was the scent of leather and spices, a scent that I would recognize anywhere; it was the scent of Gawain.

After realizing this, I snuggled even further into the cloak.

At the same time I began to realize other things, such as that I was in a wagon, and that there was a figure hunched over in what looked like a very uncomfortable position. On closer inspection I could see that it was in fact Gawain who was sleeping.

I reached over to him, to caress his hand which was just in range of my arm. The gentle caress awoke Gawain, who looked up startled and searched around the wagon to find who was disturbing his peace, only find that I had woken.

Gawain's response was almost instantaneous: he immediately reached over to gather me into his arms.

I was still weak from the cold ice and wind, and was only able to return his hug weakly.

"I was afraid that I had lost you," he breathed into my ear and ever so gently kissed it. Although his beard tickled me, I still welcomed the gesture with open arms.

"Easy! Don't worry, I am not going anywhere," I reassured him as I gently rubbed his back.

Suddenly I felt something wet hit my neck, and realizing that he was actually weeping. In an attempt to comfort him I did the only thing that I could do. I began, gently, slowly, to place loving kisses on his neck, and continued to rub his back in slow circles. We lay like that for a long time in each others arms. And then suddenly Gawain lifted his head and although his face was tearstained, I found that I actually did not care, and loved him all the more for showing his emotions.

Gawain held my gaze for a while before he leaned down and placed a deep and passionate kiss on my lips. His tongue stroked my lips and I did not hesitate to open my mouth and grant him access. The feel of his warm tongue was more then I could take and with a soft moan I grabbed hold of the back of his head and pulled him closer.

It was not until we finally parted that I felt the weariness of the ordeal on the ice, and my eyes began to get heavy. Before I was able to go back to sleep I saw that Gawain had gotten up and was moving back to his vigil.

"Gawain!" I called out quietly. When he turned around to look at me I asked him, "Please stay with me?"He nodded and, walking back to my side, he lay down behind me and wrapped me in his warm embrace.

As we lay there I noticed that there was a much larger figure lying near us, together with a much smaller figure. I suppose Gawain noticed my confusion, because he placed a small kiss on my ear and whispered: "Dag and Luthien. You saved them."

I nodded and snuggled closer to Gawain; he in turn did the same and soon I had fallen into a deep sleep, while Gawain looked over us.


	27. Chapter 27

W

hen I woke up it was already dawn and as I looked around I saw that Dagonet and Luthien were still asleep. I also noticed that Gawain was no longer by my side: Lancelot had taken his place, watching over his sister.

As I quietly got up, pleased to see that I had regained my strength, I moved to stand behind Lancelot, and placed my hand on his shoulder.

Lancelot immediately jumped at my touch and turned around to see who it was. When his eyes met mine he gave me a weak smile.

"Do not worry, Lancelot; she will be alright," I said in an attempt to reassure him.

"How can they be fine? Look at her! She is so pale, and she has not woken up," he said as he returned to watching over her, and tenderly brushed a long curl out of her face.

"Well, how about we throw you into a frozen lake and see how you come out?" Although the attempt to lighten the mood was weak, it worked, and he gave a small chuckle. "Lancelot, do not worry yourself, she is strong and she will pull through." He gave a nod and I continued, "Now, if you do not mind, I am starving, so I will leave you to go and find some food." Again he nodded, and I left him.

As I walked through the camp I could not help but think about how the ordeal with the ice and Luthien had shaken up Lancelot. However I did not get a lot of time to think about the subject before I heard a distinctive neigh and grunt. Turning in the direction of the sound I saw that Flecha was tied to a tree next to Adrian who was grazing peacefully away.

I wasted no time in going over to him, and the closer I got the wilder Flecha got, to the point where Adrian looked up in annoyance.

"Whoa! Easy: I am here," I greeted as I took hold of his head and caressed his forehead. "Have you behaved for Gawain?" I asked him, and his reply was to place his ears back in annoyance, and yet he bobbed his head, in affirmation.

I laughed at his stubborn streak and the fact that he was still ever so slightly jealous of Gawain. "Alright!" I said scratching him behind his jaw. Flecha in return sunk his head and with one firm nudge placed his head against my chest and stomach. I smiled at him, embraced his head and placed a gentle kiss on his muzzle.

"Well, I see that you two have found each other once again," came a voice.

I looked to see who it was and saw Galahad, who had come to tend to Flammen. "Galahad!" I cried as I threw myself onto him and gave him a hug. He returned the hug gladly.

"Hey! What was that for?" he asked as I let go of him.

"Oh, nothing really. I am just happy," I told him.

"Alright! Come, you must be hungry. We have some bread and Tristan found some apples," he said as he began to walk in the opposite direction.

I laughed at the comment about Tristan and the apples and thought that the man would never change. With one last pat to Flecha's shoulder I turned and followed Galahad.

-0 -

"Well, look who it is," Bors commented as we stepped into the clearing where he, Tristan, Arthur and Gawain sat and ate their breakfast. I smiled and dropped a mock courtesy, which earned me a small laugh from around the group. I sat down next to Gawain who handed me a piece of bread. I took it with a thank you.

"Now, where are these lovely apples I have heard so much about?"

Tristan just looked at me and with a smile reached beside him and handed me an apple. "Thank you, Tristan."

"How are Dag and Luthien?" Bors asked.

"They both sleep, although I do believe that they are through the worst," I told him as I took a bite of the apple.

The others nodded in understanding. We continued to talk with each other and eat our breakfast, until Arthur got up to give the caravan the order to begin to pack and carry on with the journey.

I got up and together with Gawain and Galahad and made myway back to where Flecha and the other horses stood grazing quietly. I reached Flecha and, with a pat to his shoulder, reached for his saddle which lay against the tree. "Well, boy, are you ready?" Flecha bobbed his head and snorted in reply as I buckled the girth securing the saddle. "I hope that you have not grown too bored without me." He shook his head.

"No I don't think that he has. He has been keeping me busy, pulling off different pranks," Gawain said as he placed the bridle over Adrian's head.

I laughed at the thought of Flecha giving Gawain a hard time, as I offered the bit to Flecha, who took it gladly, and fastened the bridle around his head.

With one quick kiss to Gawain I swung up into the saddle and began to follow Bors who had just walked by us and was headed for the front of the caravan.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: Hello everyone. I want to thank you all for your amazing reviews and for sticking with this story untitled, I really appreciate it and am thrilled that you all like it. **

**I am sorry that it has taken this long to update, but i just started the first term of Uni two month ago and in between getting my life balanced and work i have not had that much time, but finally here is another chapter i hope that you enjoy it. **

Luthien's POV

I felt like I was wrapped up in a blanket of ice, and at the same time being engulfed by a storm of fire, as I slowly regained consciousness.

It took a while before I was able to focus on my surroundings, but when I could I noticed that Dag was lying not too far away from me, still unconscious. With his brows knitted, as he appeared to be in too much pain.

Slowly I struggled to crawl over to him. Once I reached him, I could see that his chest rose and fell as he struggled to get air into his lungs.

"He will be alright."

My heart skipped a beat, and I turned my head to face the entrance of the cart, where the voice had come from. "Lancelot!" I whispered, more to assure myself that he was alive and alright than anything else, as I looked into the face of my brother.

My breath shuddered as I took in his appearance: his face was solemn and his eyes had sunken in and taken on a much deeper color than the last time that I had seen them. Quickly, I tried to calculate how long I had been out for, but in the end there was no way of knowing, other than we were still travelling, and I assumed that we had not yet reached Hadrian's Wall.

As if he read my mind, he answered my unspoken question. "You have been unconscious for two days; we are not far from the Wall." I nodded in understanding and he lowered his eyes to look away, and then he was on his way out of the cart.

"Lancelot!" I cried as I struggled to my feet, but it would appear that my legs were not yet sturdy enough to support me and I resorted to attempting to crawl towards him. Though there was really no need, as he had heard me weakly calling his name and quickly crossed the floor of the cart and scooped me up into a firm hug, though he remained mindful of the condition I was in.

"Luthien," his voice was strained something that I never heard coming from him. "you are the only thing that I have left! Do you know how scared I was?" Slowly he pulled away to look into my eyes. "I thought I had lost you."

"Don't worry, brother; you won't get rid of me that easily." I said in an attempt to make a joke, though I could see that it did not really work. Instead, I looked down at his chest where I saw something familiar. Reaching in, I pulled out the bear that I had carved so many years ago. "You kept it," I said in amazement.

"Of course I kept it! You made it, after all."

There was a silence so I risked taking a look at Dag. Lancelot must have followed my gaze because the next thing he said was that he would make it, and that Merenwen and I had managed to save him.


	29. Chapter 29

It was the next day when we reached the fort, the people weary and us knights tired. Slowly we made our way through the gates of the wall that protected the fort and into the interior structure, where the one man that I never wanted to see breathe again stood, the Bishop himself. It did not matter that we all returned alive, it was the mere principle of sending us off on the most dangerous mission yet, on the day that we were to be liberated.

It did not matter what Arthur said, I knew deep in my heart that the Bishop did not expect any of us to return alive, let alone want us to return alive.

"Ah, God!" the pig said as he stepped forward to the boy, Alecto, with his hands raised as he usually did. "Christ be praised. Against all the odds Satan could muster."

I took my eyes off of the Bishop and looked over to Alecto to see him slowly coming out of the wagon.

"Alecto let me see you." Then the Bishop said proudly with a motion that was at once ridiculous and frightening "You have triumphed!"

He was talking as if he had suddenly gone crazy.

Would this man never just give up and go back to Rome where he could just die? but I knew that would not happen. The man kept on going on like a village idiot. "Young Alecto, let me see you."

I was slightly surprised to see that Alecto in fact did not come near the man but rather moved further away.

Suddenly in the middle of the fat man's crazy speech I heard Guinevere's shout towards Lucan, who broke free from her hold and came running towards us . I had no doubt that he was headed for the wagon behind us where Dag and Luthien were, we had known from a bit earlier that Dag had woken but was still too weak to get up.

"You, boy! Stop!" One of the guards moved to go after Lucan and probably hit him. Once Lucan was in safety behind us Galahad took out the dagger that he kept on his belt and held it to the guard's throat. The guard at first tried to get around it, but when he realized that if he did Galahad would cut his throat with the flick of his wrist, he stood still. As the bishop saw that one of his soldiers was being threatened and that Galahad would have no hesitation to kill his man, he began to laugh nervously and backed away, most likely to do all possible in order to spare his own life.

"Our great knights." He continued with more nervousness added to his voice, "You are free now!" Slowly all of our attention was directed to the man., "Give me the papers. Come," he said as he motioned for the other soldier to bring our dispatch papers, "come." The soldier with the dispatch papers walking quickly towards the Bishop and removed as he opened the chest the bishop continued with his speech: "Your papers for safe conduct across the Roman Empire."

As we stood there merely glaring at the bishop I felt Gawain come around to stand next to me and place an arm around me. I looked up at him with a small smile and leaned in to him. He breathed in my scent, and I was amazed by how the simple gesture could make me feel relaxed and reassured.

"Take it, Arthur." He motioned with his hands. He either realized that we were not going to move, or he was intimidated by us, or he wanted a Roman to take the papers. Either way I found that I did not care, he had sent us through hell and we almost lost Dag and Luthien.

Slowly and carefully Gawain reached out and grabbed the discharge papers for both of us and.

As he reached for my hand I looked to Lancelot and, with a gentle smile, made my way back to the interior of the fort with Gawain at my side, hand in hand.


	30. Chapter 30

**Normal POV**

I felt a pair of strong arms encircle me as I stood on the wall looking out over the plains; I felt no panic as I knew who it was.

"Why are you so sad?" Gawain asked as he rested his head on my shoulder. "We all made it through this death wish of a mission."

"It is not the fact that we all survived, rather it is the principle of this mission," I said as I turned around in his arms. "For one boy! We put our lives at risk for one stupid boy who will one day take over the country that we so hate!"

"Arthur seems to think that he is a good person," Gawain said as he brought his hand up to my face and gently ran the back of his hand along my cheek. I could tell that he was trying to calm me down, and I loved him for that, but at this moment I was to angry to listen to him.

"To Hell with Arthur!" I said as I broke away from him.

"Merenwen, tell me you do not mean that! He has been a good commander and a good friend; he has never led us astray and gotten us out of more precarious situations than Bors can count."

I knew that the last part was meant as a joke, and it worked: I felt the corners of my mouth twitch as a smile made itself present. I moved back into his embrace and placed my head on his chest, taking his scent in; it did not take more than a split second before I felt his arms around me. "We were just so close to losing Dag and Luthien that it scares me."

"I know love, I know." I suddenly felt him go tense as a rock, and his breath hitched.

Lifting my head off his chest, I looked into his eyes to try and gauge what was the matter. "What is it?"

He did not say anything, but rather was staring straight ahead. I turned around and that was when I saw it: hundreds of torches all gathered together.

"Jols, get the others!" Gawain shouted. Apparently he had looked around him and seen that Jols was walking at the base of the wall.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the reality of the predicament sunk into me, and I could do nothing else than stumble back and find a place, sitting on the edge of the wall, and stare out into open space.

"Merenwen?"

I could hear Gawain in the distance, but it was not until I felt him pull me into his embrace that I actually realized that he was right there with me. "Mer, are you alright?"

"Oh, Gawain, what are we going to do?" I cried as I buried my head once again into his chest, seeking the comfort that I knew I would find.

"Sh, it will be alright," Gawain cooed as he gently rocked me back and forth, much like you would do to a young child who was frightened. Although he tried to comfort me, I could tell by the way that he held himself that he was nervous himself as to what would happen.

"What is going on?" Galahad said as he came up the wall in a quick jog. Gawain did not say anything, but he must have gestured to the wall, because shortly after I could hear Galahad cursing under his breath.

One by one, the others came to the wall and had similar reactions to ours. As we all stood around each other, contemplating what would happen to us, we noticed Arthur and Guinevere coming up together to inspect what we had all already seen, and after looking each of us in the eye, and taking one look around the fort, he returned his gaze to us.

"Knights, my journey with you must end here." Slowly, the words that he spoke began to sink in, and I suddenly felt like doing nothing more than throw a fit in sadness at the prospect of what he was implying. "May God go with you," he said as he turned and once again made his way down the wall to get ready for the battle that he had chosen to face on his own. Lancelot, not being able to comprehend nor accept what his friend had planned to do, quickly ran after him with every intention to stop him from going to his death. As for the rest of us, there was nothing more to do than to retire to our quarters and brace ourselves for what the dawn would bring.

"Gawain, what are we going to do?" We were walking through the winding corridors of the fort as we made our way to our rooms.

"The only thing that we can do: we will leave the fort with the others and make our way back home," he said as he stopped in front of my door and gently bent down to kiss me deeply.

"Gawain, I want to stay with you tonight," I whispered as we broke the kiss to take in much needed air. At hearing my words, he opened his eyes to search my own for any signs of doubt or uncertainty and, finding none, he nodded. With my hand in his, we made our way to his room.

As we reached his door, Gawain brought his lips down to meet mine in a frenzy of passion and desire, that left us both craving more, as we stumbled through the door and together crashed into the wall near his bed.

"Gawain," I called out to him as he placed open-mouthed kisses along my neck. My body trembled in what I could only imagine to be a combination of anticipation and fear.

"Mer," he mumbled back with increasing vigour while one hand confidently moved from my waist, making its way up to my breast, and the other, which had until now been caressing my neck, moved to my inner thigh where he, ever so slowly, began to move upwards.

Up until now I had let my body take control of what was happening, but I now began to feel uneasy. Although I loved Gawain with all of my heart and soul, I knew the significance of what I was about to do. Even though the hands upon my body were so familiar to me, the motions could not have seemed more strange. "Gawain, wait," I called out as I stopped both of his hands in their path.

Slowly, he pulled his head up to gage my expression, his eyes glazed with lust. "What is it, Mer?" he asked as he brought the hand that had been on my thigh to gently cup my cheek.

"I...I've never done this," I told him as I adverted my gaze from the intensity of his.

It was not long before he gently took hold of my chin to return my eyes to his. Although I tried not to look at him in the eyes it was to no avail. "Mer, look at me." His voice was husky yet gentle and I had no choice but to comply. In his eyes there was no judgement, only understanding and love. Slowly, he took my hand, and with infinite care guided me to lie on the bed. It was a gesture that put me at ease as I knew nothing was expected of me.

Safe in this knowledge I felt brave once again and motioned for Gawain to join me. As he came into arm's reach, and hovered above me, I began to untie his tunic, removing it from his body. He remained above me silently, allowing me the room to feel comfortable in, although I now felt that this was no longer necessary and wound my hands into his hair to bring his mouth once again to mine.

Once I was sure that he understood that I had no intentions of stopping, I slowly traced my hands down his neck, across his well-defined shoulders and back, to slowly let them caress his sides. The result of this was a deep groan from the man above me. The hand that had once been on my thigh now returned there, and this time I had no desire to stop him. Slowly, and with expert hands, he began to remove my clothes. The pace quickened as I untied his trousers, which he then wrestled free from. Once we were completely bare he eased his body down onto mine, where there was a moment's hesitation before our bodies merged, and I found what I had been so afraid of to be a simple and pure act of love.


	31. Chapter 31

The sense of safety, combined with the warm body that lay beneath me. Slowly brought m slowly out of the dream world and into the real one, where I woke only to find Gawain tenderly looking down at me, as I lay with my head resting on his chest. In turn I snuggled deeper into his chest, seeking the warmth that he so willingly provided.

"Good morning." His voice was soft and groggy with sleep.

"Mm, good morning," was all I could say in return, as Gawain traced slow lazy patterns across my shoulders and back.

"Today we finally return to our home," he said with a large smile plastered across his face.

"Mm, and you will then find your beautiful Sarmatian woman to wed and I shall return to the mountains to dwell for the rest of my days," I returned in jest, but the emotions that I was feeling deep inside, feelings that were not necessarily connected to Gawain, surfaced in my voice.

"No need to search." He paused for what I could only imagine was to draw out the suspense. Slowly I gave him a questioning look, and he decided to continue: "I have already found her. You." He confirmed with a kiss. The kiss continued to grow deeper, but alas it was not meant to last. Soon I felt my uncertainty return and found myself with no other way to comfort myself, to quench the uncertainty than to break the kiss, and once again find the sanctuary of Gawain's warm chest.

"Mer?" he asked, but I refused to answer him. "Merenwen, please look at me!" Slowly I surrendered and gave him my attention, from where he continued, "What's wrong?"

"It does not feel right, Gawain, leaving Arthur to fight against thousands, while we just run away like a dog with its tail between its legs."

"Mer, it's not our fight! We have risked our lives for fifteen years, it's been enough," he assured me as he gently caressed my face.

Slowly and reluctantly I nodded, whereafter he began to get up from the bed and ready himself for the journey that lay ahead of us.

"Come, we must get ready."

Nodding slowly, I too began to make myself ready. Once dressed, I picked up my sword and quiver, and together we walked to the stables where the horses and the others awaited us.

"Gawain, Mer." It was Lancelot who greeted us as he sat astride Tempest's back with Luthien in front of him. In one hand he also held the reins of Flecha, while Dagonet held the reins of Adrian.

"Lancelot," I greeted with a nod and a smile as I swung up on Flecha and took the reins from him. Looking to my right I saw that Gawain too had mounted Adrian, and with one final nod to everyone we took off, leaving the fort behind us, hopefully never to see it again. Though, as we met up with the rest of the party that was leaving Hadrian's Wall, our pace slowed. It became even slower when our eyes fell on Arthur at the top of Badon Hill, dressed in full armour.

As I looked around at the others, I could tell by the look in their eyes that they too felt ashamed that they were leaving their commander, their friend behind to fight a battle that he had no chance of winning.

Flecha danced beneath me and cried out to his comrades who were beside him. He already knew what I was going to do, and he had already agreed to fight alongside me once more, to protect me.

"Mer?" Gawain apparently had not only understood Flecha, but had seen something in my eyes. With one last look to the man that I loved, I reined Flecha in beside him and leaned over to give him a final kiss.

"I love you!"


	32. Chapter 32

Leaning forward, I stretched myself out over Flecha, allowing him to stretch his legs and carry us both back to the keep where I would be able to get proper armour on not only myself but also on Flecha. I knew that there was a very good chance that we would not make it through this fight. In fact it was almost a guarantee, which made it even clearer to me that we had one shot and one shot only: for this reason, full armour was crucial.

Launching myself off of Flecha, I wasted no time in reaching the armour rack, and quickly, took the armour and swung it over Flecha's back, causing the stallion to prance in fear, but I had no time to worry about him, and he seemed to understand this. Gradually I got all of his armour fitted into place, and now it was my turn and soon after I found that we were ready.

I guided Flecha into a gallop from the ground, and only when we were out of the courtyard did I swing myself onto his back and guide him up the hill where I knew Arthur and Feonaro were waiting, and sure enough they soon came into my line of sight. However, Arthur only realized that I was there when I pulled up beside him. His reaction was one of utter shock.

"Mer?"

"The one and only," I replied, giving him a small smile.

"Leave, Mer, it's too dangerous," he said as he looked back out onto what would soon become a battlefield; but I did not move. "Go!" he ordered me, but my only reply came in a smile.

"Arthur, listen to me, and listen carefully," I began. "I love you like my own brother, but this is where I belong, here, on this battlefield, with you, fighting for our brothers and the ones that we love, not running away from this with our tails between our legs." I held his gaze the entire time and was relieved when I saw him slowly nod.

"Alright," he agreed, and then added: "I am glad to have you with me, Mer." For that the only reply that I could give was a nod, as I too turned my attention to the doom that loomed ahead of us.

I was shocked out of my thoughts by the sound of hooves thundering up from behind us, and turned to see Lancelot ride up on the other side of Arthur with Tempest and give Arthur a grin; it appeared that by now Arthur was no longer willing to argue with us and our stupid judgement. I should have known that we would never leave each other in danger, as Gawain, Galahad, Bors, Dagonet and Tristan rode up to us, not long after Lancelot. That was when I knew that we were all prepared to stand by one another and fight to the death, just for a chance at freedom that we could all share together.

In the distance, we could see the Saxon army moving. Arthur took this as his queue as he urged Feonaro out in front of us and slowly began to ride him from Tristan all the way to Gawain.

"Knights! The gift of freedom is yours by right," he began. "But the home we seek resides not in some distant land. It's in us and in our actions on this day. If this be our destiny, then so be it. But let history remember that, as free men and women, we chose to make it so."

With that he brought Feonaro back to stand between Lancelot and myself, and drawing his sword he yelled: "RUS!" It was as chorus that we all joined in with, an act on Arthur's part that sealed the pact of standing with us and fighting to the death for the freedom that we had been deprived of for so long. The great horses beneath us understood and chimed in with their own chorus of cries as they pranced powerfully beneath us.

When it was over, we each stuck the war banners into the ground. Tristan proceeded to pull his bow out and point it in the direction of the Saxons. He scanned the horizon, selecting carefully his first kill, until finally he settled for a tree, where he released the arrow, and true like a lion to his prey, the arrow found its target in a spy that had been hiding cowardly in the tree. Within seconds the spy dropped to the ground dead, and with that the greatest battle that we would ever witness began, a battle that would claim us to the fiery depth of hell for all eternity or set us free to roam the lands as we chose.

Arthur gave a sharp kick to Feonaro, giving him his head, and this was our cue that the battle had begun. Flecha quickly fell into step behind Bors as we rode into the black smoke that would reveal our fate. The smoke was so heavy that I had no choice but to let Flecha find his footing and guide me into battle.

Battle cries rang out through the air, in particular I could hear the distinct cry of Bors; but I knew that to survive I had to block everything else out; I could not let myself be distracted by anything. With this I blocked out the world that was around me and focused on the powerful gait of Flecha, his deep breathing, his strong heartbeat that vibrated through the heavy armour and collided powerfully with my own as we became one force; and then it came.

The smoke cleared and before me was an army of confused and terrified Saxons. My task was clear: I had to fight to survive. With one final deep breath, I plunged my sword into the heart of the first Saxon that came before me. Red was everywhere! This was the fiercest battle I had seen yet, there was little I could do other than go with the heavy rhythm of the bloodshed. I could not see the others but I could hear them, and then, just like that, it was over. I once again rode into the blackness of the smoke. Once we were clear of the blanket of darkness, I turned Flecha around on his haunches and waited with the others, for the next wave of arrows delivered by the Woads. It was clear from the cries that I could hear from beyond the smoke that the arrows had struck true.

I looked to Arthur and waited for his signal that we should deliver the next wave of attacks; Arthur waited only for a moment till he was certain that there were no rogue arrows that could possibly be a threat to us, before he gave the signal for the next wave of attacks. This fast-paced rhythm continued for another five rounds, always staying two steps ahead of the Saxons and always praying against all odds that our plan would succeed.

When the last Saxon had fallen we pulled back to the safety of the hill. I knew that there were more to come but when they came through the arch I was taken aback at just how many, and dread immediately began to fill me. How could we possibly defeat such a force? As I looked around at the others, it was obvious that they were thinking along the same lines.

I was jolted out of my thoughts by Flecha who danced with nervous anticipation beneath me. I placed my hand on his crest in an attempt to calm him. "Easy boy, just a little longer," I told him. It did not do all that much to calm him, but what could I do, I would be lying if I gave him false hope. I glanced over to Arthur waiting for his signal only to find that he was looking at the Woads who had brought catapults forward. When all was in place he moved Feonaro forward and, with a thrust of this sword into the air, gave the signal for the Woads, and they launched their flaming arrows towards the Saxons.

The Saxons appeared to be two steps ahead of our plan and raised their shields in protection, but it was to no avail. A few of the arrows hit their marks in various body parts of the Saxons, but that was not their ultimate destination.

A few arrows managed to find their true mark but it was enough, within seconds the Saxon army had been split by a blazing inferno, as the barrels of hay which had been soaked with oil turned into meter high flames, effectively terrifying and disorientating our opponents. From our right I heard a loud battle cry, and within moments we could see the movements of the Woads as they charged onto the battle field with all of the might and courage that they could muster.

This was the sign that Arthur was waiting for. As he drove Feonaro forward, the rest of us plunged right after him, and we thundered down the hill to the fate that awaited us. It was not long before I could feel heat and, looking up, I was met by the sight of fire balls which had been released from the catapults, and as they exploded before the Saxons they turned the already bloody battlefield into the fiery depth of hell.

I held on tighter to my sword as I sat deeper in the saddle and waited for the impending impact. I could see Tristan shooting arrows and delivering blow after blow as we approached our enemy. Looking ahead I could see Arthur and Lancelot plough through the sea of Saxons, slicing their way through.

Beneath me, Flecha plunged deeper and it was enough to get my attention, for before me was a barricade of Saxons who were intent on cutting me off from the others. Placing my full weight onto Flecha I gave him his signal and he took off into the skies, and as we soared over the barricade I embedded my sword into one of the men before we landed into the chaos below.


	33. Chapter 33

I felt rather than heard Flecha's front hooves connect with the ground below us, as my entire being shook with the impact. I had only a moment to collect my thoughts before Flecha rolled back onto his haunches and with a soft snort he kicked off harder, it was not much but I knew that it was a warning that within the next seconds I would face another Saxon, and sure enough there they were, confused but ready to kill whatever came their way. I took a deep breath and raised my sword high into the air, bringing it down to connect with the soft flesh of a Saxon, the sound was enough to churn anyone's stomach, but it was not a thought that I could concern myself with now.

I brought Flecha around and I could see that the Woads were right behind us prepared to deliver whatever deadly blow that they could. However, I had no time to worry about what the Woads could or could not do, as more Saxons came for me, each one believing me to be easy pickings considering that I was a woman, they would soon discover how terribly wrong they were, as I brought my sword to connect with each one of them.

I could feel my heart beating out of control, pumping the adrenaline throughout my veins, blinding me to most things, but it was only as I brought my sword up high, that I truly saw the carnage that I had inflicted through the blood that soaked the blade. I looked around and could see that most of the other knights had either already dismounted or been thrown off by the Saxons, the only that remained on their horses were Tristan and Gawain, but it was when I looked to at Gawain that I truly felt my heart stop.

He was riding head on into battle, but what he failed to see was a Saxon who stood a little ways in front of him holding an armour-piercer ready to fire. I saw as the bolt left and headed directly for Gawain, finding its mark in his left shoulder and throwing Gawain clean off of Adrian.

As I watched him fall I felt a scream be ripped from my throat as I spurred Flecha on to where he laying, but there was no way in which I was fast enough in getting there, as only I few feet away from him, a Saxon had managed to get enough leverage and momentum to launch himself at me, knocking both myself and Flecha to the ground. I could hear in the distance as Flecha screamed and struggled to return to his feet.

The brute who had knocked me to the ground stood poised above me with a horrific lecherous glint in his eyes, but he was distracted by this battle lust that he failed to realize that he had left himself completely vulnerable, it was a chance that I seized as I reached for the dagger at my waist and plunged it into the man's heart, and with a gurgling cough he fell over dead.

Scrambling to my feet I looked around for Gawain to see him standing and ready to pull the bolt from his shoulder. What he did not see was the man that stood behind him with a battle axe raised and ready to strike, with an additional boost of strength I lunged at the man thrusting my sword into his back, the man gave a silent scream and fell to the ground dead.

I wanted to desperately stay with Gawain and make sure that he was alright, but when I saw him continue to fight the men around him, not only did I know that he would be alright, but I also knew that there was no time for that, both for my sake and his I had to keep moving, laying death to any foe that came before me.

It was only a while later when I sensed that there was someone behind me, a presence that I did not recognize, but when I moved to strike them down I was shocked to come face to face with none other than Luthien.

"What in the blazes?" I cried out as I stilled my blade above her head. I must have had a Saxon approach me from behind, because Luthien thrust her blade past me to embed it deeply into the chest of the man, and with a scream fell to his death. "Luthien run, get away from here!" I cried as I continued to hack at men that came in my path.

"What and miss out on the fun?" she called back as we fought side by side.

"Think of your brother, what would he say should you die on this day?"

"I fight beside you Merenwen, and there is nothing you can do to stop me." The determination was strong in her voice, but I had to make one final stand against her.

"Luthien you are a woman, this is not your place." At this statement she merely looked at me as if I had gone a bit mad.

"And what are you a duck?" she asked.

"Good point."

As we continued to fight side-by-side I saw out of the corner of my eyes Tristan dismounting Indian, but it was only when I realized who Tristan's target was that I knew I had to do something.

Tristan was an very capable fighter, but I feared that should he take on the Saxon King on his own that it would be the last act that he ever did. So without any hesitation I quickly made my way over to him, cutting down anyone who came into my path. As I reached his side he looked at me with curiosity, but I could tell that his concentration never left the king.

"You cannot do this on your own Tristan." I pointed out.

"Mer, do not deter me from this, you know as well as I that if he falls the fight will be over." I knew that he was right, but I would be damned if I let him die on this day when we finally were free.

"I do know that, which is why I am going with you; together we have a better chance than alone." I told him with a small smile, and it seemed to be enough for him as he nodded and together we made our way over to the king.

It did not take the Saxon leader long to notice us both approaching him, it was only when he did that he threw down his axe and withdrew his sword in its place.

As Tristan and I approached our enemy, we spent only a moment dancing around him before together we struck our blow. It did not take long for the three of us to be engaged in a deadly dance, and while we were two against one, the Saxon king appeared to have no problem deflecting both of our blows, and as if to make matters worse it was clear that he was strong, and I could tell that Tristan was loosing his strength, but I was not much better, with each of his blows I had to struggle not only to deflect them but also to just remain on my feet.

I knew that the best way to give Tristan a chance was to attempt to strike from behind, while I had been contemplating on how to diliver my next blow, I failed to notice a particular powerful swing from the Saxon, so with one deep breath I dropped to the ground and rolled around him to come face to face with his back; this was my chance. I moved to strike at my opponent, but he red me perfectly and he himself swung around to deflect my blow. It was a move on his part that caused Tristan's guard to be lowered for a split second, but it was enough for the Saxon to draw a dagger and strike at Tristan, effectively slicing through his flesh by his ribs.

"Tristan!" I breathed his name, it was clear from his expression that he was worried about the wound, but I also knew that he was going to need time to recover, so without thinking over my actions or the consequences that it would have, I charged the king, and together we connected swords, but he still had the small dagger in my hand, and the fact that I had not paid much attention to it would prove to be my downfall, as the next thing I knew, he moved to slice through my thigh, successfully bringing me to the ground. As I kneeled before him attempting to comprehend what had happened I felt the hilt of the same blade connect with my head. My vision went black and the pain was excruciating. I did the only thing that I could think of, in an attempt to get away from the Saxon, I half crawled, half hopped away from him all of the time swinging my sword around me. Tristan saw my distress and immediately engaged his opponent, but his strength was already weaning, and it was only a few seconds before the king had implanted his blade once again, this time into Tristan's fore-arm, effectively causing Tristan to drop his sword.

It was clear that the Saxon was only playing with us, like a cat does with its prey. I could tell that Tristan was weary of his opponent as he reached for the dagger that he kept hidden on his chest. The leader merely observed him with curiosity and he kicked Tristan's sword towards him, indicating that the fight was not over. I took this as my chance and lunged towards the Saxon, but it was a mistake that I would come to pay dearly for, and unknown to me he had also unsheathed a dagger of his own, and in one fatal swoop, I felt the dagger being plunged into my chest.

The pain was excruciating, I could feel the burn run through every nerve in my body as it brought me to the ground, but it was the moment that Tristan had been waiting for as he lunged and plunged his own sword, the sword that the Saxon had foolishly given back to him, into his opponents back.

As I lay on the ground I could look up into the face of the dying man, and what I saw was a mixture of both astonishment but also to some extent contentment, as he fell to the ground taking in his last breaths.

I do not know how long it took for him so die, or how long I lay there on the battlefield weak and bleeding from my wounds, but it felt like hours before I saw Tristan's face above mine, I could tell that he was saying something, but I was unable to understand him, as I succumbed to a world of darkness.


End file.
